Reincarnation of God
by BubbleLove1
Summary: Five heroes rose from the chaos of war. After a ferocious battle, they vanished in thin air. 5,000 years later, a woman awakes from her long slumber and looses her power. Living in a new world, she is determined to find her comrades while meeting new friends along the way. At the same time, a new group arise hoping to unseal the demonic tyrant.
1. The Goddess

In the Era of Chaos, many brave warriors had fallen. All defeated by a powerful group, Sicarius. They strove to annihilate mankind from earth. An army that consist of ogres, wild beasts, demons with grotesque figures, and dragons, with a minimum of 50, 000 troops were estimated.

Different kingdoms allied with one another in attempt to control the uprise from these monsters. But no matter how brilliant the tactics were, all were a vain effort. Even with a combination of many mages, fighters, and warriors, the damages done to Sicarius were insignificant compared to the number of injuries and human lives wasted.

All had lost hope until a group of five managed to defeat a troop of Sicarius effortlessly. News of the five heroes spread rapidly across the nation. The alliance invited them into the kingdom, hoping that the human race could be saved.

It was not long before they managed to infiltrate the castle that the ruler of Sicarius reside in. Thousand and millions of citizens were amazed, astonished, and filled with admiration. Never had they seen someone as powerful as them; mages with unlimited mana and warriors with powerful strength. Their destructive power seemed inhuman. Soldiers in the same battlefield felt honored to be fighting alongside with the heroes, and proud to be saying it to their family and friends.

Five of them entered the castle as the rest stayed outside. No one knew what happened. After many explosions, everything fell silent. Suddenly a thunderous sound roared, followed by cries and screams. Five beams of light shot toward the sky and flew in different directions. The castle then crumbled into pieces.

The soldiers dug under the rubbles for three days, hoping to save their heroes. But what they saw was not their beloved heroes, but rather Reiton, leader of Sicarius. Reiton had became a statue with a sword still pierced inside of him. Mages recognized that one of the strongest sealing spell, Incantores, was casted on him. It was not surprising that even the weight of the castle could not destroy his figure. The floor was also imprinted with a spell of 15 layers of hexagonal star that encircled one another. They realized that it was a spell used to seal his actions. Their powers said to be strong enough to counter a dragon's breath.

The alliance responded after the soldiers dispatched a message about their situation. All nations agreed to build a big shrine with Reiton sealed deep inside. Statues of the five were built to protect the people from Sicarius.

The disappearance of the heroes was a mystery to all, but no one forgot about the five miraculous light beams that night. The kings declared that the heroes were descended from above to help the people during the time of crisis. And the light beams went into the sky because the heroes have returned to heaven. Thus the five heroes were named as "The Reincarnation of God."

~~~ 5, 000 YEARS LATER ~~~

"Father, father! I want to listen to the story about The Reincarnation of God!" Prince Faust whined.

The king laughed at his youngest son.

"You have listened to that story so many times already. Do you want to listen to others?"

"That story is the best! I love it! When I grow up, I must become as strong as them!"

"Father, don't forget to tell Faust that what you're telling him is not only a story." The eldest prince, Lache said while entering the room. Next to him was his mother, Queen Lavina.

"Not a story but an event that happened in the history right? I know, I know! That's why I want to be like them when I grow up!" Prince Faust cheered excitedly.

Lache grinned at his little brother, "That's not possible."

"Why not?"

"According to those that entered the sacred shrine, a 15 layered magic was used on Reiton. And right now even a Great Sage like Rave can only cast up to 13 layers.

Faust pouted, "Is that true mother?"

"Yes darling." Queen Lavina responded and patted his head.

"They brought peace to this land. Even after 5,000 years, people in the world still look up to them." The king said.

(Knock knock...)

"Come in." King Leon looked to see who it was.

The servant kneeled down onto one knee, "My king, there is an urgent news from Goro."

The king waved his hand and the servant retreated.

He got up, "Well then, sleep well both of you."

"Yes father." Both princes responded simultaneously.

"Report." King Leon commanded after sitting on his throne.

"A group of treasure hunters found something very magnificent and I would like to show it to your majesty." Goro said and looked up to see the king's reaction.

"Bring forth and show it."

"That is the problem your majesty, we are unable to bring it here."

Leon raised a brow, "Are you trying to fool me?"

He fell onto his knees, "No, no, no! Your majesty, please come with me and you will know what I mean."

The man rushed to the site, excited to show the king what he have discovered.

"Beautiful." Leon whispered.

They were in a cave and in front of them is a beautiful lady, unconscious on the floor.

"Why don't you get her out? Hurry and help the girl." Leon pointed at her direction.

He replied, "That is the problem. We cannot break the barrier."

"How did that girl get in there? What have you done to her?"

"We have been digging in this cave for few months. We camped out here but never saw any girl snuck in. So we assume that she had been trapped in there for a long time."

"Rave, is that possible?"

He answered, "Your majesty, it is possible. But to survive under the rocks and keep a barrier up for such a long time, she must be very powerful.

The king touched the orb like barrier.

Rave stepped in front of the king but he wasn't able to cast a spell fast enough.

General Kenshin tried to block the damage but three of them ended up flying backward.

Everyone gasped and rushed to the king.

"Your Majesty! Are you alright?!" Rave exclaimed and helped him up.

"Amazing." The king said as he got up, "Not even a Great Sage nor a Dark Knight is able to repel the impact.

Kenshin agreed, "Truly powerful.

"Have people guard the area until you get the girl out." Leon commanded while walking out the cave.

"Yes sir." One of the guard said and bowed.

"Your majesty, I have a suggestion." Rave said walking behind the king.

"Speak."

"If she is really that strong, then if we are able to control her powers we might be able to conquer other kingdoms."

"Her powers would be helpful but the problem would be if she can be tamed." Kenshin said to Rave.

"Taking over other kingdoms, not yet. But bring her back to the palace for future purposes." Leon said.

"Yes your majesty."

~~~3 days later~~~

"Pst...pst..."

"What?" Daichi turned to his partner.

"Did you see how the girl inside looks like?" Arata asked.

"Yeah. I took a glance at her when they brought her in."

Arata opened the door ajar and peaked inside the gap.

Daichi smacked Arata on the head, "Stop doing that, we're guarding this area right now, not checking out some girl."

Arata groaned and touched the spot he was hit, "I'm only seeing if she woke up yet or not. I heard she has been unconscious even before they brought her here."

Daichi smacked his head again, "Stop peeking."

"Hold on! Stop hitting me!"

"Ohhhhh shame!"

Daichi gasped.

"Prince Faust!" Both of them fell to their knees.

Faust grinned, "Someone isn't doing their job."

"Prince Faust, please don't tell the commander." Arata begged.

The young prince walked around them, "I could do that, but you have to let me go in."

"Ahhh..." Both of them had a confused look on their faces.

"Why would Prince Faust want to do that?" Daichi asked.

"Everyone in the castle is talking about her, so I want to see how she looks like." Faust pouted.

Both of them looked at each other and hesitated.

"I promise I won't tell the commander." Faust said poking their shoulder.

"Okay then." Arata said.

"But..but..." Daichi stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"Daichi stop being like that. Prince Faust won't make any trouble." Arata said and opened the door for the young prince.

"Hehe." Faust giggled, "Let's go Mary."

"Yes, Prince." The maid said and followed behind.

"Mary, quickly close the door and come here." Fause whispered and went beside the unconscious lady.

Mary kneeled beside the young prince.

"Why do you think Father brought her here?"

"I heard a rumor saying that she is very powerful." Mary replied.

Faust pondered for a few minutes.

"She doesn't look strong at all!"

The maid giggled, "I agree prince, this woman looks very innocent."

"And pretty." Faust added.

"Prince Faust look!" Mary pointed at the woman, "She is waking up."

The woman shifted, and her eyelids fluttered but did not open all the way.

"Mary go get Father and the doctor here."

"But prince Faust, if we tell them to come, Daichi and Arata will get in trouble."

"Tell Arata or Daichi to get someone, and say they heard some noise. We'll just hide in here."

The woman laid still on the bed as the doctor checked her pulse.

"Is she feeling well?" King Leon asked.

The doctor responded, "She is perfectly healthy, but we still don't know if there is anything wrong with her since she never spoke a word since she woke up."

She suddenly curled up into a ball near the pillow. It was like she finally noticed her surroundings.

"We'll give her some time alone. Until she is completely healed, Daichi and Arata will keep guarding the doors." With that, the king left the room.

After all of the people left, she started talking to herself.

"What is she doing?" Faust whispered to Mary.

Mary responded softly, "I don't know, but young prince, I don't think it is a good idea to be hiding in her room."

"Not like we'll get in trouble."

"Prince Faust..."

"Shhh! Don't be so loud."

Faust concentrated on what the girl was doing.

She sat up straight and placed both of her hands in front of her chest, like she was praying.

They heard a poof, and something appeared in front of her. It was a black puppy with two horns and a pair of wings.

She seemed to be talking to it, and it responded, but Faust could not understand anything.

_Are__they__foreigners__? __But__she__was__found__in__Father__'__s__land__..._

The puppy touched her hand.

"Thanks Kero. I wouldn't know what to do without you." She said.

_So__she__can__speak__our__language__, __then__I__guess__she__is__native__to__our__land__._

Kero turned his head toward Faust's direction, and Sakura's eyes followed.

Faust knew he was found out, he laughed nervously as he came out of his hiding spot.

"A kid..." She smiled.

"I'm not a kid anymore! I'm seven years old!" Faust exclaimed.

She giggled, "What is your name?"

"My name is Faust."

"Faust." She repeated after him.

Mary frowned, "Prince Faust," She corrected.

"How about you? What is your name?" Faust asked.

"My name is Sakura."

"You are very pretty." Faust said and climbed on the bed.

Sakura giggled, "Thank you, but what I want to know is why were you hiding in my room?"

"If father found out that I'm here, he would tell me to leave."

"Why doesn't he want you to be in my room?" She asked curiously.

Faust responded, "People found you in a cave unconscious, and there was a very strong barrier that was protecting you. Rave and Kenshin think you are very strong, so you might be able to work for our kingdom."

"Hmmm...who is Rave and Kenshin?"

"Rave is a Great Sage and Kenshin is a Dark Knight. Both of them work under my father. They are very strong too! If I can I want to be as strong as them. No, even stronger. Like the 5 Reincarnation of God!"

Sakura watched as Faust's eyes shone brightly as he mentioned the heroes.

"Sakura-nee chan! I should tell you about them one day!" Faust said excitedly.

"Of course." Sakura smiled and patted his head.

She continued, "But I'm a bit tired now, so I want to rest a bit."

Faust jumped off the bed, "Okay then! I'll visit you some other day nee-chan!"

He ran out the door as Mary stumbled behind him.

"Kid..." Kero shook his head with annoyance.

"He's adorable!" Sakura giggled.

Kero rolled his eyes, "Brats are always brats."

"Well then, I have many questions to ask you." Sakura's voice turned serious, "Where am I and what happened?"

"Master, you are currently in Castanea Kingdom. And you have been unconscious for 5,000 years..."

"5,000 years...?" Sakura repeated, "I only remember Reiton's attack blasted me away and I blacked out. What happened afterward?"

"After Reiton was sealed, The Era of Chaos came to an end. But humans are always greedy." Kero looked disappointed as he spoke.

"Without Reiton leading the beasts, they left Pangea and returned to their own continent. Then, the humans turned against each other and fought over lands that Reiton once controlled.

Sakura frowned, "Other than that, did any other things happened?"

Kero shook his head and closed his eyes, "I am really happy that you are back."

Sakura petted Kero and hugged him, "Being in an unconscious state for such a long time, my body has weakened immensely. I don't even have the power to cast a simple spell. It took me a very long time to call you out."

Kero rolled his eyes, "I can tell you're weak. I can't believe I'm stuck in this pitiful form."

He stood on all four legs, giving Sakura a clean view of how he looks like.

"I'm the size of your hand, maybe even smaller!" He exclaimed making Sakura laugh.

"Something is going on recently, I have some friends who heard a rumor saying that someone is trying to break the seal on Reiton."

Sakura sighed, "Maybe this is the reason why I was found."

Kero tilted his head.

"Why did you think we didn't wake up earlier or was found earlier? Why now? Why when someone is trying to break the seal?"

He shrugged his small shoulders.

She smiled sadly, "It is our fate. The five of us."

"Master..."

"This has been our role ever since we were born."

He looked at Sakura, "Have you ever regret or despise having such a monstrous power?"

"Many times..." She stared at the empty space, recalling all those memories.

~ 1 Month Later ~

"Isn't your father worried about you getting too close to me?" Sakura asked sitting on the bed, petting Kero.

"Yup, all the time." Faust responded, "That's why he got people following me but they can't stop me."

Kero laughed, "Smart kid."

"Of course." Faust smiled.

"If you're as smart as you think, then you must know a way to get out of the kingdom without the guards knowing." Kero said.

"Yup I do." Few seconds later, Faust's smile faded, realizing what he just said.

"You want to leave the kingdom?" He asked sadly.

Kero looked at Sakura, making her respond.

"Kero and I do not belong here. And besides, the only place I can be is this room. Your Father doesn't even let me step out of this room."

"Other than not letting you leave the room, everyone is very nice. If you want I can ask father so you can accompany me while we're in the kingdom."

"Faust..." Sakura frowned.

"Kid. There are important things my master must do. She can not stick around here and play with you for the rest of her life." Kero barked.

Faust looked at the floor sadly.

"Kero, that was harsh." Sakura said softly.

"I am simply stating the truth. If he doesn't want to hear it he can leave. We can always find our own way."

"Sorry Faust," Sakura apologized, "Kero is just a bit rude."

Faust looked up, "I can help you guys escape but you must promise me one thing."

Kero and Sakura was surprised by his offer.

"What is it you want me to do?" She asked.

"You must take me with you."

Both of their jaws dropped. Of all the request he can make, he had to ask that!

"You must be kidding me." Kero whispered under his breathe.

"Faust, I'm not sure that is a good..."

"That is my deal." Faust said cutting off what Sakura wanted to say.

He continued, "There is no other way to leave the kingdom. You cannot defeat the army and guards alone. The only way is for me to help you."

"What do you think Kero?" Sakura asked.

"We can't be bringing a kid along with us!" He exclaimed, "He'll only be a burden."

"A smart kid. And plus I know how to fight! Kenshin taught me some moves before. I can protect Nee-chan." Faust cheered.

Sakura laughed.

"Well I guess we can use some protection. Master is unable to use her magic and I cannot be roaming with my true form." Kero said.

"Let's leave tonight!" Faust said.

"Why are you in such a rush?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I've always wanted to travel but father doesn't let me. My dream is to be as strong as the legendary heroes. If I stay here, there is no way that is going to come true because I am a prince. People are afraid to harm me so they won't fight me seriously. That is not what I want. So in order for me to polish my skills I must leave." Faust responded determinedly.

"You must really admire them. Children your age would choose luxury over their dreams." Sakura smiled.

Kero stood up from Sakura's lap and jumped off the bed.

"Kid, you must know that once we leave the castle, your title, prince, is worthless. And if people find out your identity, they will kidnap you and threaten your father. Are you prepared for that? Are you prepared to give up your life as a prince? To give up the protection from your father and the soldiers? To start protecting yourself and of course my master too. And don't forget, we need to earn money to feed ourselves. People don't just give us free food and shelter. Are you prepared to do all of that?"

"I am." There were no hesitation in Faust's voice.

After Kero warned him all the possibilities, Faust's determination was unwavering. Sakura and Kero now understood that he would give up the life he has now to achieve his dream. They would never ask him again, because his resolution was unquestionable.

"You have asked enough questions, Kero." Sakura started, "We will depart tonight then. But where shall we meet up?"

"The garden down the hallway." Faust suggested.

"But how will you manage to get pass Daichi and Arata?" He wondered.

She giggled, "My powers haven't fully returned but I can still use a sleeping spell."

"How strong are you if all your powers come back?" He questioned.

"Who knows?"

"As strong as the Great Sage?"

"Maybe."

Faust pouted.

"Go back to your room and start packing kid. There are few more hours until the sky is dark." Kero said.

"Fine." Faust left the room, still pouting.

Sakura got to the garden early and wandered around.

"This place is very beautiful."

Kero rolled his eyes, "Of course it is, we are inside a castle right now."

"So negative Kero! At least let me enjoy my moment here."

"The kid is running late." He groaned.

Sakura bent down to smell the flowers.

"Give him some time to pack. I just hope he won't bring too many stuff with him."

"I'm here!" Faust yelled when he saw them.

"Shhh." Sakura whispered placing one finger on her lips.

"Don't forget we are sneaking out."

"Ooops." He whispered.

"How are we going out?" Kero asked.

"There is a small hole in the wall, we can crawl out."

Sakura looked at the small hole, "I wonder if I can fit through that." She laughed nervously.

Kero rolled his eyes, "Blame your big chest."

Sakura pouted, "Leave my breast out of this."

"Kero and I will crawl under first and we'll pull you out if you get stuck." Faust said.

Kero already walked his way over and watched as Sakura squeezed herself through.

"Not a befitting image for a maiden." He sighed.

"Just help me get out of this hole!" She huffed. After few more attempts, she got out.

"Where to now?" She asked.

"The city gates are closed at night so we can only leave during the day. We should just rent a room to sleep in for the night." Faust said.

Kero hopped onto Sakura and sat on her head.

"Okay, let's go!" She cheered.


	2. Escape!

"Waaa good thing you brought money with you or else we would be sleeping in the streets last night." Sakura chatted as they walk through the busy streets.

Faust grinned, "Of course! And I got more too."

She smiled, "You're going to need to keep it safe and make sure we don't spend all of it."

Faust jumped around excitedly, "I can't believe I got out!"

"We need to decide where our destination is before we go anywhere." Kero said. He was hiding inside Sakura's pocket so people would not see him.

"How about buy some simple snacks first so we will not be starving?" Sakura suggested.

Faust nodded, "But after that we need to quickly leave the city before father sends someone to go after us."

"Let's go in that store then." Sakura pointed and they went inside.

Sakura who has not seen the world in 5,000 years had no idea what the foods are and if they were expensive or not. And Faust who is a prince, does not know the meaning of expensive.

"Here." Faust gave Sakura some change.

"You go buy the food. I want to go look at another store."

"Will you be fine being alone though?" Sakura asked.

"Of course I will! I am stronger than you think."

"Alright then. We will meet outside the food shop." Sakura said and Faust ran off.

Kero stuck his head out of the pocket just in time to see Faust disappear into the crowd.

"What is that kiddo up to?" He asked.

Sakura shrugged her shoulder and continued to look around.

Before she finish buying the food, Faust had already returned.

"What is that you bought?" Sakura asked as she paid.

"It's a cloak!" He responded, " It can keep us warm while we're outside."

Once they left the shop, they wore the cloak.

"This is nice! It has a hood." Sakura complemented and pulled the hood over her head.

Just after she finished talking, they heard a girl scream.

The other people also wondered what happened and a crowd started to form.

"Let's go check it out!" Faust dragged Sakura with him.

They made their way to the front of the crowd so they could see better.

The buff man was holding the girl's wrist with a tight grip.

"Please don't! Please! I promise to give you the money someday! Just give me some time!" She cried and struggled to get free.

"Your family has been saying that for years. Since your dad died and you have no money, you can use your body to pay us." He said.

"I heard that the loan sharks have been forcing some girls to be prostitutes if their family can't pay off the money." They heard someone spoke.

Another responded, "Poor girl. It is sad that she has never done anything wrong too. It's all her father's fault for gambling."

"HEY!" Faust called out. He walked out of his spot. All attention turned to toward him.

"What is that kid doing?" Sakura heard someone murmur beside her.

"Is he trying to get killed?" Another said.

Sakura sighed.

"Let go of her now!" Faust commanded.

The man let go of the woman and walked to Faust. He was amused.

"What did you say? I didn't hear that clearly." He said, mocking Faust.

"I said let her go!" Faust said louder and got angry.

"Zeph-sama, that kid is trying to be a hero." One of his underling said. Laughters erupted from his group.

"What do you think boys? Do you think we should teach him who is in charge here?" Zeph asked.

"YEAAAHHHH!" They roared.

"Then let's..."

Sakura ran to Faust and put her arms around his shoulder. "Please forgive him. He's just a kid."

She had her cloak on with the hood, but he could still see part of her face.

Zeph was awestruck by her beauty.

"You are lucky to have such a beauty as a mother." He said to Faust, "Of course I will forgive him."

He continued, "That is if you'll serve me for a night."

His men laughed again.

Someone behind Zeph yelled, "Hey boss! Remember to share her with us!"

Zeph smirked. He place his hand under her chin to lift her head up. Now he had a clear view of her glamorous face.

"Truly a beauty." He whispered. "No man would let such a creature walk alone on the streets. Your man must not know how to appreciate you. Follow me and I'll give you anything you want."

He glanced at Faust disgustedly, "And this punk here can follow you."

Sakura frowned and smacked his hand away, "Thank you for the offer but I decline."

He stepped up, forcing Sakura to back away so she could keep a distance between their bodies.

"No need to answer me that fast. I can always wait."

Faust who was standing beside Sakura the whole time has been glaring at Zeph non-stop.

"Your shoelace is untied." Faust mumbled softly.

Sakura glanced at Faust awkwardly. _What is he thinking about in this kind of situation?_

Zeph gave the same look as Sakura did but he let it slide, and bent down to tie his shoelace.

Like that, Faust use all his strength to topple Zeph over. Zeph tripped and fell to the ground.

Using this opportunity, Sakura quickly grabbed Faust and the woman's hand and fled from the scene.

"What are you doing?! Quickly chase after them!" Zeph roared angrily.

All three of them ran as quickly as possible.

"What are we going to do now?" Faust yelled.

"We need to find a place to hide so they wouldn't find us." Sakura responded back.

She was dashing with her head down and did not see that someone was in front of her.

"Umphh." She crashed into the stranger and fell to the floor.

Her hood fell off and the snacks she was carrying landed beside her.

The man kneeled down to help her pick up the food.

"I'm so sorry." Sakura murmured.

He was about to hand her the snacks but then he froze.

"Wow." She heard him whispered. He stared at her without blinking.

One of his friends elbowed him and he came back to his senses.

"Ohh, uhh, sorry." He laughed nervously.

"Thank you." Sakura grabbed the stuff from him.

Faust and the woman picked up the rest.

"Come on!" Faust yelled while looking back to see if Zeph and his men caught up yet.

"THEY'RE RIGHT HERE! I SEE THEM!" Someone yelled.

Sakura glanced back and sighed.

"I know a place to hide! Follow me!" The woman exclaimed and they ran away.

"Let's stop!" Sakura gasped for air. "I can't run anymore. I feel like my heart is going to explode.

"We should be safe now." The woman said. "I didn't get to introduce myself. My name is Hana and thank you very much for saving me."

"Of course we're suppose to save you! Even if you owe them money, they shouldn't make women sell their body!" Faust yelled.

"It's not the first time they've been doing this. There are many before me." She frowned.

"Why hasn't anyone reported him to the government?" He asked.

Sakura patted Faust's head lightly. "The government cannot always help the people. For Zeph to do that continuously, he must be from the royal family or at least have a very good connection."

"He is not from the royal family." Faust stated.

"How would you know that?" She asked.

Faust went silent for a moment.

"Well..., if someone like him is in the royal family, it would be a disgrace to the king." He laughed nervously.

She giggled.

"I'll help you deal with Zeph!" Faust buffed up his chest and grinned.

"We can't." Zakura intervened, "Have you forgotten that we need to leave the city?"

Faust pouted, his determination destroyed.

"How much does your family owe?" Sakura asked.

"10 pieces of gold." Hana whispered and looked away embarrassed.

Faust took out 12 pieces of gold from his pocket and handed to her.

She was shocked and speechless.

"You can give 10 of them to Zeph and the other two pieces, use it yourself and go somewhere far away." He said

She burst into tears and went on her knees.

"Whaa...What are you doing?! Stand up!" Faust said trying to help her up. She shook her head.

Sakura cannot help but smile. Since he was living a life as a prince, people kneeling to him is something servants do when they see him. But here he is, all flustered from an unexpected one.

"You don't know how much this money means to me." She cried, "It will take me more than 10 years to earn 12 pieces of gold. Thank you so much! Thank you very much!"

She bowed in front of them. Once, twice, and a third time. She kept her head down.

Sakura kneeled beside her and squeezed her shoulder, making her look up, "Hana , know that this money does not come freely. Money is not the only way you can help so I want you to promise me to help anyone you cross path with."

She sniffed and wiped her tears, "I definitely will."

"Well then...," Sakura said help her up, "It is time we leave the city."

"Wait!" She grabbed Sakura's arm, "I still don't know your name."

"My name as Sakura and he is Faust." Sakura responded with a smile.

"I wish I have a son like you." She said to Faust.

He laughed, "A person like you will have a very nice son!"

She nodded and smiled, "Thank you once again."

"Bye bye!" she yelled out as Sakura and Faust walked away.

Faust turned around and started walking backward, "Byeeee!"

"Remember to be safe and be happy!" Sakura called out.

"Don't worry, I will. I hope we'll see each other again!" Hana responded.

"We will someday!" Sakura yelled back.

She stayed in the same spot and watched until they disappeared.

She looked at the money in her hand and whispered to herself, "Yes, we definitely will. And thank you god, for sending them to help me." She looked at the sky and closed her eyes. A miracle happened.

"Wow the forest is so beautiful!" Faust exclaimed and ran around.

Sakura laughed, "How does it feel like? First time helping someone."

Faust replied while still looking around, "It feel great! I have never felt this happy before. But I wanted to do something better like capturing Zeph so something like that wouldn't happen again. Too bad we need to leave."

"Every little deed counts. You might think that just helping one person is nothing but it might actually change the history itself."

Faust ran to the front, "I hear water!"

Sakura looked at the shiney clean lake.

"Want to shower?" She suggested.

"Ok!"

~~ In the city. Few minutes ago ~~

"Syaoran this way! Let's go to this restaurant!" Meilin dragged her cousin across the street.

He sighed and followed lazily, "While are you eating so much? We need to hurry up and meet up with Ty for our job.

Tomoyo clung onto Eriol's arm and followed them.

"Just let Mei Lin eat all she wants. We still have two more days before the offer ends and it takes us less than 3 hours to get there." Eriol said.

"Umphh." Someone crashed into Syaraon and fell on the ground. Being a warrior, something like that would not make Syaoran stumble over.

He looked at the stuff that were dropped and bent down to help pick them up.

"I'm so sorry." The girl spoke softly.

He was about to hand her the snacks until he saw how she looked. He was mesmerized by her beauty and couldn't help but stare.

Looking at Syaoran's frozen state, Mei Lin elbowed him.

"Ohh, uhh, sorry." He apologized embarrassingly.

"Come on!" The kid yelled.

"THEY'RE RIGHT HERE! I SEE THEM!" Someone yelled out and a whole group of people came out.

The girl in front of him sighed. He saw how troubled she was.

"I know a plce to hide! Follow me!" Someone from her group yelled and they started running away.

Syaoran raised his arm and stopped the men. _The best I can do for her is to stop her pursuers._

"Move out of the way!"

He did not move.

"What are you doing?" Mei Lin asked.

He rolled his eyes, "Isn't it obvious."

"It's not even our business. Why bother?" She replied.

"Syaoran has fallen in love with that lady." Tomoyo giggled.

Just then, Zeph finally caught up to his men.

"What are you guys doing? HIT HIM!" Zeph roared.

Mei Lin smirked, "People like them can't even touch you. Since you don't need any help, we'll wait at the restaurant."

Syaoran nodded his head. One against fifteen. Syaoran defeated them effortlessly. One of the man saw the sword on Syaoran's back, "He's a mercenary!"

Zeph groaned on the floor. He had messed with the wrong person. A town bully can never defeat a mercenary and Zeph knows it.

He glance at Syaoran's figure. Well built, in an armor, with an unsheathed sword hanging on his back.

"Damn it." He cursed, "A warrior."

Syaoran gave them a disgusted look and left.

"Had a nice warm up?" Eriol asked as Syaoran sat down.

"That was hardly a warm up. Just a kid's play. And are you guys done eating yet?"

"What do you mean am I done eating yet! I just sat down not even for 5 minutes!" Mei Lin exclaimed.

Syaoran rolled his eyes, "We will leave now. Eat as much as you want when we get there."

She groaned but said nothing else.

~~~Forest~~~

"I hear a waterfall. Let's refill our water there." Tomoyo suggested. She was walking with Mei Lin while the men walked behind them.

Just when they were almost there, Tomoyo instantly covered Eriol's eyes and forced him to walk backward.

"What are you doing?" He asked confused.

"Something you shouldn't be seeing."

Syaoran walked forward, curious on what Tomoyo was talking about.

"I wouldn't go any closer if I were you. I wouldn't want to be called a pervert." Mei Lin warned.

He ignored her and stopped when he saw what she was talking about. He held his breath amazed by the scene before him.

It was the girl he bumped into earlier... and she is naked right in front of him, bathing in the lake.

Mei Lin sighed. Syaoran was in his own world again. She is glad that the bushes in front of them was big enough to hid him.

"Syaoran, let's leave quickly before they find out." Mei Lin whispered and tapped on his shoulder.

No response.

"Syaoran?"

No response.

"Syaoran?"

No response.

"SYAORAN!" Mei Lin screamed. He was startled by her sudden loudness. He instantly looked up to see if that girl noticed him.

Yup she did.

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	3. Beginning of Journey

Sakura screamed and ducked into the water. Syaoran instantly turned around, embarrassed.

Mei Lin bit her bottom lip, "Oopsie." she laughed nervously.

"Who's there?! Come out now!" The kid yelled out.

"Faust! Don't tell him to come out! I'm naked right now!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Ahh, I mean don't come out!" He corrected himself.

Syaoran heard them swim to the side and heard the rustling sound of the clothes.

"Faust, let's go." she whispered.

Syaoran turned around. Even though it was far away, he still heard her.

"Wait!" He yelled and ran after them.

He grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"I didn't mean to peek! Please understand I was just passing by for a drink of water and saw you!" He explained.

"Let go of me." She winced. she tried to turn her wrist to loosen the grip and push him away, but no such luck.

"I am really really sorry." He apologized, "I wish you can forgive..." He stopped when he finally noticed how tight he was holding onto her, so he let go.

Sakura did not expect him to let go so soon and fell onto the floor.

"Ahhhh." Sakura groaned from the pain.

Faust immediately went and tried to help her up.

She fell forward, onto Syaoran since she was unable to maintain her balance.

Syaoran caught her, "I think you sprained your ankle."

Faust pushed his hand away making Sakura balance herself onto one foot, "Don't touch her!"

"Syaoran! What happened?" Eriol asked when three of them caught up.

"I made her sprain her ankle." Syaoran responded guiltily.

He spoke to Sakura, "If you let me see what happened to your ankle, I might be able to help you."

"NO!" Faust glared at Syaoran. "We were suppose to be on our way to Maclindee but this happened and it is all his fault."

"It's going to be alright. We'll get there before they can catch up to us." Sakura replied, referring to the royal troops.

"You can't even walk now! How are we going to get there?!"

Syaoran looked at her ankle, "It doesn't look too bad but I do not have the correct medicine for it. If I can bring you to the town, you'll get better in a day or two."

"Syaoran can carry you to Maclindee and we can travel together. It'll be faster that way." Tomoyo suggested with a smile.

Mei Lin raised a brow, "But we're meeting up for a job, they might not let us bring them along."

Eriol nodded, agreeing with Mei Lin, "We will ask him when we see him. He may be a strict man but he can also be lenient at times. First we should get to town so we can treat the lady here."

Syaoran bent down so Sakura could get on his back.

"What is your name by the way?" Tomoyo asked, "My name is Tomoyo."

Sakura smiled and responded, "My name is Sakura and this is Faust."

She reached her hand down to Faust who was walking beside them and ruffled his hair.

Faust pouted and moved away.

Tomoyo giggled, "Well this is my husband Eriol." She grabbed his arm.

"This is Mei Lin and the guy carrying you is Syaoran."

"I'm a bit curious," Mei Lin started, "What is a woman like you and a little boy doing here?"

Sakura blanked out, unable to tell her the truth. Faust in the other hand thought of an unexpected idea.

"She is my mother." Faust said, which surprised all of them.

Syaoran was a bit disappointed but did not show it.

"Where is your father then?" Eriol asked.

Faust shrugged, "We left him."

Mei Lin laughed, "How can you just leave your father and husband like that? He must be worried sick right now. Tell us where you live and we can bring you guys back."

Faust shook his head, "You don't understand. My family is very poor. To the point where father had to sell me. But no one wanted to buy me, so his next option was to sell my mother."

Syaoran growled loudly at the thought of Sakura working as a slave. He can't even imagine all the vile things people can do to her.

Tomoyo gasped, "Your husband was going to sell you?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip and turned away, not knowing what kind of lie she should tell them.

Tomoyo looked at Eriol, "I really hope you will never do that to me."

Eriol's eyes widened, not believing what she just said, "I have never thought about it and I never will! I would die just to keep you by my side!"

She giggled, "I was kidding." She said and kissed him.

"Don't scare me like that." He whispered and kissed her back.

Faust looked at the cute couple in front of him and it reminded him about his real parents. He looked up at the sky and sighed, wondering what his family is doing. By this time they should have already found out that he is not in the castle. And his mother is a frail woman. He just hope that his absence would not cause her to faint.

"Faust." Sakura looked at him worriedly, "You don't look too well. Do you need to rest?"

He shook his head.

"We are near Maclindee." Syaoran spoke, "We just need to walk 30 more minutes and we will be there."

"Do you guys live around here? You seem to be familiar with the place." Sakura asked.

Mei Lin laughed, "We're not from around here but we travel a lot. We're mercenaries." She grinned.

"Mercenaries?" Faust questioned.

"We travel to towns, cities, and villages for jobs." Eriol explained.

"We don't work for for people who pays for murder though." Syaoran quickly added.

Sakura giggled, "You guys are very nice. I really hope you don't earn money through killing."

"Even if I wanted to, my dear would never let me do that." Eriol joked and smiled at Tomoyo.

"Of course not! I wouldn't want to sleep next to a murderer!' She exclaimed, making him laugh.

Sakura laid her head on Syaoran's back and stared at the couple while they chit chatted, "They're such a lovely couple." She whispered to Syaoran.

"Yea." He agreed, "They have been in love with each other ever since they were young, but their parents weren't really friendly with each other. It took some time to convince them." He chuckled.

"Did you help persuade their parents?"

Syaoran grinned, "Of course I did. I couldn't have my best friend lose the love of his life especially when I can do something about it."

She smiled, "You must really love them."

"Yes, they are not only my friend but also my family."

"Where is your real family?" Sakura wondered.

She noticed that he went silent for a long time.

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to." She said quickly.

"Sorry." He apologized, "I don't feel like talking about them now. But I promise you, when I feel better I will tell you about it."

She smiled, "I will look forward to it.

Syaoran chuckled and noticed that she was leaning on his back, "If you are tired you can nap on my back."

"No it's fine." She whispered sleepily.

A smiled crawled him to his face when she yawned, "Don't worry. I will wake you up when we get there."

"Thank you." Sakura said softly. She felt wrong for doing that especially when he is already carrying her. "If I am too heavy I can walk myself too."

He laughed, "You are kidding. You are so light, I can basically carry you for the whole day."

Sakura blushed and whispered a soft "Oh," and fell asleep.

They reached the cities and got three rooms. One for Sakura and faust, one for Mei Lin and Tomoyo, and the third one for Eriol and Syaoran.

"I'll go buy some medicine." Eriol said.

Faust's eyes lit up, "I want to go too!" Afterall he did leave the castle so he can see the world. He definitely wouldn't a miss a chance like this. But unbeknownst to him, he would be traveling longer than he had planned.

"Alright. Mei Lin and I will go get ready before we go to our job." Tomoyo said and both of them departed to their room, leaving Syaoran and Sakura alone.

"Does your ankle still hurt?" Syaoran asked while massaging it.

Sakura winced whenever he pressed the spot, "Yes, but not as much as before."

"That's good," He said, "Just don't put pressure on it. If you need any help, ask me and I'll do it for you."

"Syaoran." Sakura called out his name for the first time. Her voice gave out a soft pleasant ring, making him shiver.

"You don't need to help us that much. It wasn't your fault that I fell, I just didn't expect you to let go so quickly."

"It is my fault. If i weren't there looking then you wouldn't run away from me." Suddenly remembering the lake, playing and giggling in the water with her beautiful body. His face turned red and his body started to heat up.

Sakura laughed because he did not look like the type that would get embarrassed easily.

"We will be going our separate ways after today. It was nice meeting you."

Syaoran frowned, "Where are you headed to? Perhaps you and Faust can travel with us and we'll bring you there."

"Ummmmm..." Sakura thought for a while. When they left the castle, they did not plan where to go. "We are headed to the West to live with our relatives."

"Why don't you travel with us?" Syaoran asked.

She tilted her head, "Aren't you going to your job later? We might not be traveling the same way."

He had totally forgot about it. "Then if we go the same direction, do you want to?"

"I need to discuss it with Faust first. Can I answer you later?"

He smiled, "Of course. I'm going to my room now. But I will be going out later. So tell me before I leave."

~~ An hour later ~~

Clash. Clash. Clash. Mei Lin dodged and jump back from the fourth attack.

"Not bad." The man said, "All of you are hired."

"Yay!" Tomoyo and Mei Lin cheered.

Four of them came to meet the person who was hiring mercenaries. And after a small test, they were hired.

"First things first. I must explain to you the rules. I am the head captain so I will be in charge. But if I am not around, then they will be in command." Ty said referring to the two men behind him.

"And..." He added in a serious tone, "Our top priority is the safety of Lady Izumi, Prince Kiyoshi, and Princess Kasumi."

"May I ask where we are headed to?' Syaoran asked.

"I cannot tell you our exact location, but we will be heading west." He responded.

"If it is alright, may I bring two people along?"

Ty narrowed his eyes, "Who?"

Eriol stood beside Syaoran and responded, "A woman and her son."

"That is not possible, this is not a family trip. It is too dangerous for women and children who do not know how to fight." He immediately declined.

"But I promise you they won't get in our way when we fight and protecting Lady Izumi is still going to be my top priority." Syaoran exclaimed.

"They are very pitiful. Her husband abandoned her and left her alone to take care of the kid." Mei Lin said.

"Please let them come." Tomoyo and Mei Lin begged/

"I said n..."

"Ty, what is the matter?" A woman walked in and asked. In front of her were two kids, one boy and one girl.

Ty and the two men bowed.

"Lady Izumi, this man wish to bring a woman and young boy along with us. But I have already declined."

She looked at Syaoran, "Why do you insist on wanting them to come along? Are they perhaps your wife and son?"

Syaoran blushed," No, but it is my fault that she got injured. And plus because of what happened to her family, it makes me want to help her even more."

"How old is the boy?" She asked.

"About 8 or 9 years old."

She smiled, "That is about the same age as Kiyoshi and Kasumi. Let the come with us. It will be nice if my children have someone to play with."

"But Lady Izumi!" Ty exclaimed.

"I do not go back on my words."

He stopped and complied.

"Thank you!" Syaoran said with a huge smile on his face.

"Well then." She said turning around, "I shall see you tomorrow."

Eriol put his arm over Syaoran's shoulder and grinned, "I heard Sakura talking to you before we left. She said she can travel with us. You must be very happy huh?"

Syaoran pushed Eriol's arm away, "It is dangerous for a woman and a child to travel alone. I am just offering my help, doing what every man will do."

"Right, right. Are you sure that is the reason?" Mei Lin teased.

"I am sure."

"Everyone one will be meeting in front of the inn at eight in the morning. Remember not to be late." Ty said to Tomoyo since the rest of the group was busy.

Tomoyo nodded her head and the three guards left.

~~ Tomorrow ~~

Mei Lin whined, "I don't want to walk too."

"Sakura is injured. It is reasonable if she gets to ride the horse." Tomoyo said.

Syaoran slowed down his pace so Mei Lin could catch up.

"If you want we can go buy another horse in the next city." He told Mei Lin.

"I was just kidding, "She patted his shoulder and laughed, "It is good enough that we don't need to carry our bags."

"Hey Syaoran!" Someone called out.

"Hey Sano." Syaoran responded. It turned out that few of their friends were also hired and he was one of them.

Sano pointed at Sakura, who was riding in front with a huge gap in between.

"Where ya'll meet the beauty at? I've stayed at Castanea for a few times but I can't believe I've never seen her before." He asked.

Syaoran shrugged his shoulders, "I bumped into her in the streets. I don't know if she is actually from Castanea or not."

"Oh dear, "Eriol walked up behind them, "You not only bumped into her, but also done something to her. Did you not?"

And of course Syaoran know that it was more of a statement than a question.

"What did he do?" Sano asked.

"Ahh well..." Eriol responded, "I only remember it was during a bright Sunny day, in a beautiful sparkling river. Where Syaoran..."

"SHUT UP!" Syaoran yelled and flustered.

Eriol, Tomoyo, and Mei Lin laughed.

"Wow, wow. Is this really the Syaoran we knew?" Syaoran asked.

"THis is the first time we see you this embarrassed." Chie giggled.

"It must be be the end of the world." Yamanosuke joked.

Syaoran rolled his eyes, "You guys exaggerate too much."

"Sheesh." Faust shook his head. "Can't they quiet down a bit, we can hear them even when they're so far away."

"Hmm. Well, having fun in a job is very important. So it really doesn't matter since they are happy." Sakura responded.

"They should at least talk softer. They were talking about you and that pervert!" He exclaimed.

"There is something more serious to talk about." Sakura said.

"What do you mean?"

"I told them we are heading West so that we can live with our relatives. But we don't know anyone there. We need to think of something."

Faust pouted, "We just started traveling. We'll think about something later."

"No, we should think of a plan now." She insisted.

He shrugged, "Run away before they find out."

She looked at him, "What kind of plan is that."

Faust laughed, "I don't know. Do you have anything in mind?"

"Do you have someone you trust that is living in one of the cities at the West?"

"Yup I do."

"Is he trustworthy enough to not tell your father our location?" Sakura asked.

"I think so, he doesn't seem like the type that would care."

"We can ask him to pretend to be my brother or father. And because I ran away from my husband, I was a disgrace to the family so they don't accept us. We will get kicked out of the house, so we start traveling again." Sakura suggested, "What do you think?"

"That's a great idea!" Faust chuckled, "And I thought I was the tricky one."

"You guys in the back, SPEED UP!" Ty yelled loudly and they sprinted to the main group.

Tomoyo looked at the sky, "It's almost sunset. We should stop and camp out right here."

"Yea, we probably will. Ty is talking to the Lady now." Eriol said.

Not long afterward, they settled down in the forest and some of the men went to find firewood.

"I'm going to take a look around." Chie said and left.

Mei Lin and Tomoyo walked over to Sakura.

"How does it feel to travel?" Mei Lin asked.

"You should be tired since it's your first time traveling so much." Tomoyo added.

Sakura laughed, "This feels nostalgic."

"Nostalgic? Have you traveled before?" Tomoyo asked.

"Ohh no. It's just that a lot of travelers use to stop by our place and they would tell Faust stories. I also listen to them. Who would've thought I would actually be doing it." Sakura lied.

"If it weren't for your husband, I would say you live a happy life." Tomoyo said.

"How about you, Faust? How does it feel?"

Faust sat on the floor and yawned, "I am tired and sleepy."

Sakura sat beside him and put her arm on his shoulder, "Bare with me, I'm sure you will get use to it soon."

Both of the girls looked at Sakura.

"You are a very brave mother, most women would not say anything even if they get abused by their husband." Tomoyo praised.

"I can't believe you took your son and ran away." Tomoyo grinned.

"Of course! My mom is awesome!" Faust said proudly.

Sakura laughed. _Seems like he is really getting into his role._

"GIRLS! Let's go take a bath since we walked the whole day. There's a waterfall there." Chie ran back excitedly.

"Yea!" The women cheered and started walking there together.

Sakura stood up, "Do you want to come with us?"

Faust raised a brow, "I may be young, but I am still a male. I'll go with the guys later."

"Does it matter? You bathed with me yesterday."

"Of course it matters! You're not the only one there."

She ruffled his hair and smiled, "I'll be going then."

"What is happening outside?" Izumi asked when she heard the noise.

"Lady Izumi, the women are going to take a bath near a waterfall." Ty responded.

She looked toward the direction they took off.

Kiyoshi, Kasumi. Want to go bathe?" She asked her son and daughter.

Kiyoshi's face turned red, "There are only women there. I don't want to go."

"I do! I want to go with mommy!" Kasumi cheered.

Izumi laughed, "Ok then, remember to not wander off." She got off the cart with Ty's help.

"It is too dangerous for you to go alone, since I can not protect you." Ty said trying to stop her.

She smiled, "I believe the women are capable enough to protect me. If you do not think they are strong enough then we should not have hired them.."

"My apology."

"Mama! Let's go before they finish!" Kasumi took her mother's hand and dragged her.

"Sakura."

The group of women turned around.

"Lady Izumi." They greeted her.

Sakura made a space and Izumi got in after her daughter.

"I heard from Ty that you are traveling with us but you are not a mercenary."

Sakura laughed nervously, "Yes, I am going to live with our relative since we have nowhere else to go, and the direction we are traveling is the same way."

Izumi smiled, "That man kept asking Ty to take you along."

"You mean Syaoran?"

She nodded, "I believe that is his name."

Sakura frowned, "I feel really bad."

"How come?"

"I am not a mercenary but I am traveling with you guys. I am free loading off of you. I hope you don't mind."

They leaned on the rocks as they spoke.

"I allowed you to join us because I heard that your son is the same age as Kiyoshi and Kasumi. I wanted someone the same age to play with them. After I heard about you and your husband. I knew my choice was correct."

Sakura rubbed her arms and body with water, "That does not change the fact that I am taking advantage of your kindness."

"Do you know why I am on this journey?" Izumi asked.

Sakura shook her head, "Ty is really secretive about it."

"In my kingdom, the Queen recently gave birth to a prince. But because Kiyoshi was born first, he is the crown prince. I am afraid that the queen will try to do something to kill him. Unfortunately my twins are born with an unknown sickness. We've called in many doctors and used different type of treatment and medicine. We even found alchemist and see if they'll work but they failed." Izumi looked at the water and seemed like she was about to cry.

Sakura frowned, "Have you ever thought of finding a healer?"

She looked at Sakura and laughed lightly, "The last healer that existed was about 600 years ago. It would be a miracle if one existed now.

"Then the purpose of this journey is to find a way to cure them?"

Izumi nodded her head, "It is also to get away from the queen. The neighboring country attacked recently and my king suspected that the queen might be involved, therefore he ordered me to leave for a while."

"No wonder you don't have soldiers protecting you. It's because your country is in a war." Sakura said and watched the other girls play in the water.

"Ty is a very capable general. Even though he is not a dark knight yet, he is still very strong. So, my king trust my safety to him."

"Your king must really care for you." Sakura commented.

Izumi but her bottom lip, "Your husband..sold you to a slave trader?"

Sakura responded, "Yes, and I was lucky that I ran away."

Izumi tilted her head, "Do you want to work for me while you're traveling with us? And if you want I can let you come with me when I return to the castle."

Sakura smiled, "I'll be happy to take care of you during the journey. At least I can actually do something now. But I'm not sure about returning with you."

"Why not? Serving a royal family is better off than living the life of a peasant."

Sakura giggled, "Lady Izumi, I don't like being caged and live through everyday of my life being afraid that someone will kill me. Even though I am poor, I believe that my life is much happier than yours because I am free."

Izumi sighed, "That is true. I must also do everything perfect, or else it will disgrace my family."

"Kyaaa!" A girl screamed.

"What happened?!" Mei Lin yelled.

"There's a snake! There's a snake!" Kaede screamed and swam as fast as she could to where Sakura was.

Sakura helped the girls get out of the lake after helping Lady Izumi.

Mei Lin heard some footsteps, "The men must be running here after hearing us scream."

"We are naked though!" Youko exclaimed.

Chie wrapped herself in a towel, "I'll go stop them. You guys hurry and get dress."

Tomoyo reached down to grab her clothes but accidently slipped and landed on Sakura's clothes.

"Ouch. Get off of me." A man's voice came from her clothes.

"What is that?!" Yui gasped and dressed as fast as she could.

Kero came out from her clothes while rubbing his head, "That hurts." He groaned.

They stopped dressing and squealed, "He's so cute!"

"He look so adorable!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

They watched as he flew up and landed on Sakura's head.

"Is he your familiar?" Mei Lin asked.

"Yup." Sakura responded.

"People say the size of your familiar measures the amount of power you have. You must be really weak." Kaede laughed.

"Don't be so mean. Sakura is not an attacker." Youko defended.

"We should teach you some offense magic then!" Kaede suggested.

"That's a very good idea!" Tomoyo said, "I can tell Eriol to teach you since he is a magician."

Sakura shook her head, "No it's fine."

"Ah good, you guys are not done yet." Chie said as she came back, "Wait for me."

"Ok." Yui smiled.

~~ Few Hours Later ~~

Sakura rolled on her side and opened her eyes.

"Kero, you awake?" She whispered.

"Yea." He yawned, "Need something?"

"Let's go somewhere else to talk so we won't wake up the others." She said quietly and slowly got up from her spot. She snaked away from the sleeping group and sat on a nearby log.

Sakura saw Kero yawn continuously and apologized, "I'm sorry, you must have wanted to sleep since it is so late."

"Nope." He yawned again, "I am yawning because I am bored, not because I am tired. Did you forget I was sleeping in your pocket the whole day?"

"Oh." She laughed, "I really forgot."

He rolled his eyes, "No wonder you left me in your clothes and that woman squashed me. She was so heavy and it hurted like hell. If i was in my true form, I'll just kick her away."

"She only slipped! She didn't do it purposely!" Sakura said, defending Tomoyo.

"I was just kidding. But seriously, those women didn't have to tell everyone when they found out about me. It is so annoying. It is like they think you are incapable of using magic since you are a peasant and a housewife."

She laughed loudly, "It's true though. If I don't have my powers, I am just like every other girl."

"I guess." Kero said and fluttered around her, "My first impression of you was that you were weak. Felt like you were going to break. If it weren't for Sora, I wouldn't have stayed with you. And I'm glad I made that choice."

"Sora." Sakura sighed, "I really miss them."

"Same." He looked up to the dark skies, "We will find them."

"But I don't have my powers." She frowned, "Makes it so much harder to find them since I can't sense their aura. If I can feel their aura, at least it will lessen the area we need to find. But now it's like finding a needle in a stack of hay."

"We'll focus on regaining your powers first. Then look for them afterward."

"Were you listening to the conversation I had with Lady Izumi?" She asked.

"Yup, I heard about the Queen and her children."

"Do you know if there are any healers?"

"No." He answered immediately. "Just like that girl said, last healer that was ever heard of died 600 years ago."

She looked at the dark sky, "Even back in the days, healers were already considered as a very rare power. It is not surprising that there are no more now. Do you know why they're heading west?"

"The River of Life is in that direction. My guess is that they will use those water and purify themselves so they would be cured." Kero responded.

"River of Life..." Sakura repeated and seemed to have remembered something.

"We went there before." She said, "I would have thought that it is dried up by now."

He shrugged his shoulders, "The white elves are doing a good job at preventing that from happening. Plus the water there has magical composition that makes it different from ordinary water. I don't think going there would be a problem for us, but the thing is they will have a hard time convincing the white elves to let them bathe in it. If they let everyone in then there really is no purpose of a guardian."

"We'll just have to wait and see." She laughed.

He looked at her with a poker face, "Do you know your laughter is echoing through the forest?"

She went silent for a moment, "No way! You're kidding right? I hope I didn't wake anyone up."

They heard some branches crack and looked behind. Syaoran stepped out from behind the trees.

"Did I wake you up?" She said embarrassingly.

"Oh no." He responded, "I was just thinking of something and couldn't go to sleep so I decided to go take a walk."

He sat down beside her on the log and saw Kero in front of her.

"Is he your familiar?"

"Yup." She answered.

"He's so..." His words trailed off.

"Small." She finished for him.

He laughed softly, "Yes. I guess that should be the correct word."

Kero was irritated, "There is nothing wrong with being small!"

Syaoran scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, I'm just use to seeing Eriol's familiar and his is a pretty big one."

Kero cursed at his pitiful state silently.

"Kero why don't you go back to your world for now?" She suggested.

A small poof was heard and he disappeared.

"Did I offend him?" Syaoran asked worriedly.

She smiled, "Don't worry about Kero, he'll forget about it later."

He glanced at her leg, "So is your ankle feeling better?"

"Yup!" She cheered, "I feel a lot better. I can even walk now. Let me show you!"

She stood up, walk few steps, and sat back down.

He chuckled because it reminded him of a little kid learning how to walk.

"That's good. I wouldn't know what to do if something were to happen to you."

"Then you'll just have to take care of me for the rest of your life." She joked.

He stared straight into her eyes, "I wouldn't mind taking care of you for the rest of my life."

Sakura looked at how serious responded and started to get nervous.

She looked away and changed the topic, "Do you want to go back now? It's getting late. If sleep any later we wouldn't be able to wake up tomorrow morning."

"Sure." He helped her up and both of them headed to the camp.

While they were walking back together, silence took over.

_That scared me when he said it so seriously. I almost didn't know what to say. Good thing I thought of something else or else I would be in an awkward situation. I wonder if he is really infatuated with me. I know many men lust for me but when I look into his eyes, it doesn't seem that way. I can even feel his intense gaze behind my back. _

Sakura kept walking without looking behind.

_If he really fell in love with my then that means it was love at first sight. He thinks that I am married and still feel this way. This is just too troublesome. Everyone thinks that Faust is my kid and if I enter a romantic relationship with Syaoran, I will be committing adultery. Will I be misleading him if I continue to rely on him? I know I shouldn't do that but in the situation me and Faust is in, it is better for someone to take care of us while we travel. He is a really nice guy so I don't want to hurt him. I'll just see how everything will turn out since I am still uncertain about his feelings._

Instead of returning to her resting spot, she sat in front of a tree and pressed her back against it, resting there.

"Why aren't you laying down?" He asked.

"I'm not use to sleeping without a pillow. I need to go find a small one the next time we go to the market."

He came and sat next to me, "You can lean on my shoulder to sleep then."

"No, I shouldn't do that. You should go back to your spot." She shook her head.

"I can sleep while sitting here too. Just leave on me." He insisted.

"But I..."

He pushed her head lightly and she leaned on him.

"Don't regret it then." She said calmly.

"I won't." He responded.

He glanced at her sleeping face and smiled. _I definitely won't._


	4. Village of Halves

"They look so cute together." A girl whispered.

"Adorable." Another one giggled.

"You know I can hear you." Sakura could hear that the voice next to her was annoyed.

She grumbled from the noisy murmurs and opened her eyes.

The girls quickly scrambled away and engaged in an activity, as if they were busy.

She sat up straight and stretched.

"Good morning." Syaoran said and chuckled.

"Morning!" She responded with a yawn and apologized.

"You must be very tired, since we slept late last night." He said when he saw her sleepy eyes.

She rubbed her eyes, "Yea, I need to catch up on my sleep tonight. Aren't you tired too?"

"Hmm..." He rubbed his neck, "I can stay up for few days without sleeping, this is nothing."

She frowned, "That's not good for your body. You shouldn't do it too much."

He smiled, happy that she was caring about him.

"Faust, Lady Izumi, and some other people are at the waterfall. You should go wash your face there to wake yourself up." He suggested.

"Ok, but do you need help packing up?" She asked.

He looked around, "No, Mei Lin helped me packed my mat and Faust did it for you already."

"I'm going to go to them now." She started walking but then suddenly stopped and turned around, "Also, thank you for yesterday."

He smiled, "Anytime."

When Sakura got to where the others were, she saw Faust playing with the twinz in the water.

"How was yesterday's sleep?" He grinned.

Sakura stopped, "Are you going to tease me about it too?"

"Other people are talking about it first!" He defended, "Not my fault."

She put her hands on her waist, "I am your mother now, it is not good to talk about me with another man."

He walked beside her, "You forgot to mention you're not my real mother."

"Yes, but other do not know about this. It will be weird if you talk happily about me and Syaoran."

She pinched his nose, "Now don't talk about us."

His face scrunched up and pulled away, "No!"

He turned facing her while running backward, "I WOULDN'T MIND IF YOU FIND ANOTHER MAN! FATHER ALWAYS HIT YOU AND TREATED YOU BADLY! AS LONG AS YOU FIND SOMEONE THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TOO!"

She turned red when I noticed everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her. And it did not make her feel any better when she heard the "subject of her topic" behind her.

"Wow." Sano said as they stopped few feet behind her. "Her son basically just approved of you." He looked at Syaoran, who was staring at Sakura.

Sakura put both of her hands on her cheeks and felt her own face heating up.

"I'm going to wash my face." She mumbled. She ran to the water and splashed her face.

Syaoran sighed, "You guys should stop that. She doesn't like it."

"She doesn't, but you do." Yamonosuke patted his shoulder and chuckled.

"I...maybe but I don't want her to feel uncomfortable."

"Then make her feel comfortable and fall for you." Sano said. "I will support you."

"Yea!" Other boys agreed.

"Look at her." Yamonosuke put his hand out like he was presenting her, "If you don't want her there will always be someone who does. And who knows if they can treat her better than you."

"Syaoran watched as the girls sat beside the waterfall and started chatting, "I hope she will like me."

Sano smacked him on the back, "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror. Your face literally make any girls go crazy over you. Not to mention you are a highly skilled warrior."

"She doesn't go crazy over me though." Syaoran said and Sano went silent.

Yamonosuke laughed, "She is no ordinary girl. She probably has more men on her tails than girls on yours. Plus if she were like every other women, you wouldn't even like her."

"True." Syaoran frowned.

Eriol, who was standing at the back, frowned at his friend and shook his head, but said nothing.

~ An Hour Later~

"Darling, what are you thinking about?" Tomoyo linked arms with Eriol and walked with him at the very back of the group.

"Just Syaoran." He answered and continued to stare at the front.

Syaoran was chatting with Sakura, who is riding on the horse with Faust.

Tomoyo followed Eriol's line of sight, "Are you worried because of Sakura?"

He sighed, "She's married. It would be hard for uncle to accept a commoner as a daughter in law. But Syaoran not only fell for a commoner, but also someone who is already married and has an eight years old son."

"I think they look great together. A very good match." She giggled.

"Babe." He unlinked her arm and placed his on her shoulder, "That's not the point here. Syaoran should not have fallen for her. By the time we bring her back to her family, he will be deeply in love with her. He will only get hurt at the end. I don't want to see him like that again."

Tomoyo leaned against his arm, "I know what you mean, but I haven't seen Syaoran this happy in a long time."

Even Eriol cannot deny the fact that his friend lightened up after meeting Sakura.

Tomoyo continued, "If the present enabled us to be happy, then we should cherish every second of it and crease treasurable memories. If problems arise in the future, we will think of something then."

"What will I do without you?" He kissed her forehead.

She giggled and snuggled against him.

"I guess that is all we can do now. I just hope Syaoran knows what he is doing." He whispered.

"Heads up everyone!" Ty barked aloud when they approached near a village.

"What's wrong with the village?" Sakura wondered.

"The village ahead is formed by all halves." Mei Lin responded. She was walking behind Syaoran

"Haves? You mean those half human, half demon?" Faust asked excitedly.

"Yup." Mei Lin laughed.

Faust's eyes brightened, "I heard many rumors and stories about them. I just never seen them before."

Yuuko smiled at how child-like Faust was, "Some halves are over-ruled by their demonic side and crave for blood. There are some cases where the human part of them weakens and lose conscious. They can go out of control and go on a killing spree. Meeting one is not that interesting."

"Since both of you do not know how to fight, you can die if you're alone with a half." Kaede said.

"Just stay in my sight or next to me." Syaoran repeated.

"I don't think they are that scarey. You make them sound so horrible." Sakura frowned.

They were surprised that Sakura is defending the halves. Even though halves were accepted by the human society few centuries ago, they are still considered as the lowest class citizen.

Tomoyo giggled, "Sakura, you are too nice."

Kaede rolled her eyes, "She's just too ignorant about these stuff because she have never seen one before. If one of them attack her, she will say otherwise."

"Halves are just like humans. They have feelings and emotions. They feel pain, sadness, sympathy, and love too!" Sakura argued. She was upset and everyone could see it.

"They're all blood thirsty monsters!" Kaede responded angrily.

"Enough!" Ty yelled to break the argument. "I don't know what is going on but now is not the time to be messing around.

After ordering the mercenaries to guard the carriage carefully and stay alert, the whole group entered the village.

It was a very small village. Halves were selling their crops and items in front of their hut as they happily chat with their neighbors. But the moment the group step foot onto their group, it went completely silent.

Mother quickly told their children to return to the house and men stood in the front protectively.

_It __seems __like __the __relationship __between __humans __and __halves __have __not __changed __a __bit__._ Sakura sighed softly at the thought.

They walked through the streets cautiously and when they got to the middle, they were stopped. The mob of halves in front of them were holding their farming tools, ready to fight back. And the person who stood in front of the group was an old man. He had white hair and a beard that stopped above his stomach.

He bowed, "I am the Chief of this village. I represent everyone here to apologize if we have done anything wrong. We will compensate in anyway to take anything you want."

The villagers are angry, and if you observe closely, they are frowning, gripping the shovels and forks tightly. Perhaps they armed themselves for defense and not for offense, because it seemed like they were more afraid than angry.

"There is a misunderstanding." Ty spoke loud and clear so everyone can hear it. "We are not here for anything. We are merely passing through so we can enter the Forest of Giants Den."

"Wait!" Yuuko yelled, "We have no more food for tonight's meal. We need to buy some."

"Is there a place we can stay while we wait?" Ty asked the Chief.

He hesitated before responding, "There is an outdoor tavern. You can g-"

"Chief! I don't want them in my tavern!" A man whispered angrily.

"Are you not going to listen to me then?"

The man looked away disappointed.

"I will bring you there." The Chief lead the group to the tavern.

"I'll go buy the food." Sano was about to leave when Chie grabbed his shirt.

"Men have been hunting the food so far. I'm sure we can at least shop for the food. Does anyone want to go?" Chie asked.

"I'll go buy the food." Yuuko volunteered, "Anyone else?"

Sakura stood up and before she can move from her spot, Syaoran grabbed her arm.

"It is dangerous. You should let someone else who knows how to fight go. Plus your leg is still injured."

"My leg does not hurt anymore and Yuuko is coming with me, so I will be safe."

"Then I'll go with you." He said.

Sakura smiled at him. Knowing that he is worried made her happy.

Yuuko laughed, "You'll just be in the way and the halves are scared of you. Have some faith on my skills and I'll protect her for you." She winked and both of them left without Syaoran.

"I'm sorry about how Kaede spoke to you before." Yuuko apologized.

"What she said is not your fault, you don't need to feel responsible for it." Sakura walked to one of the stalls that is selling vegetables. It is apparent that the halves were not as afraid as before because the men aren't around.

Yuuko walked around Sakura with her arms crossed, "I'm saying it as her childhood friend because I know what she went through."

Sakura continued to the next stall and picked out some crops, "You do not need to explain to me. I understand what point of view she is seeing this situation."

"No, you don't understand. Her parents took a half in and cared for it. But he killed her parents, and she was fortunate enough to have lasted until a mercenary came by. Perhaps what Kaede said was true. You have not seen what halves can do, therefore you can be so lenient about..."

"I understand very well." Sakura interrupted her, now talking face to face.

The mother standing behind the stall glanced up and quickly looked away.

"I have seen with my own eyes the power of halves. The mountain of bodies left behind during their hunt. The dry earth within a hundred miles was all red because the blood of those corpse seeped through the cracks. But can you give me a definite answer. Is it a half's nature to hate humans and wish for our destruction or did we bring this upon ourselves because of the way we treated them? Plus not all halves are blood thirsty monsters. Just because some are violent, it does not mean all of them are.

Yuuko was stunned, "You are explaining the things that happen in Dragon Land and Southern countries. I think we may have underestimated you."

Sakura gasped, knowing that she accidentally said something that will make them suspicious.

"I don't really care where you are from. There are also people in the group whose name I don't even know. As long as you are not trying to kill the princess, then everything is fine. And you do not have to worry about me telling other people because I know you must have your own reason for hiding your identity."

Sakura smiled widely and hugged her, "Thank you!"

Yuko laughed, "Just don't get in trouble."

"I'll have these." Sakura lifted the food in front of the half to show her. The woman grabbed her hand, surprising both of them.

"Thank you for saying that.I have never seen a human argue on our behalf. They don't understand that we want to live a calm life. We are only fighting back because we are fighting to live."

"It has been better though right?" Sakura asked. "You guys are actually living in the public now and even have your own farm."

The half nodded, "We've had three or four disturbances but we stayed here for a year already. It is the longest we have ever settled in an area. I really don't want to leave this place because this is the first time in my life, I feel like this is the place I can call home."

"It seems I have been bias because of the rumors." Yuuko never imagined she would hear a half say something like that.

Sakura squeezed the mother's hand, "Home is where your family is. It is not a designated place but an area where someone is waiting and yearning for you."

She glanced at her son, who is playing behind her, "I have never thought of it that way. I guess I was too tired about moving around so much that I have forgotten the most important thing."

"I'm glad you realized it." Sakura placed the food in a cloth bag and paid her. "Treasure every moment you have with your family, or else when the time comes, you will truly regret it."

"When you spoke to the half about treasuring every moment with your family member, you were actually talking about yourself right? Assuming that the story about yourself is false, does it mean that you actually have a really nice husband you want to go back to?" Yuuko asked as they walked back toward the tavern.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does! Syaoran is totally in love with you. If you have someone you want to return to then that means he has no chance with you."

"Not telling you!" Sakura giggled and ran ahead.

"C'mon!" Yuuko yelled and ran after her," Just tell me and I won't tell anyone else!"

"It's time to leave." Ty said when he saw them running back.

Sakura looked up, "The trees are so big and tall. I can't even see the skies."

"It'll be hard to find a way out if we get lost here." Tomoyo said softly.

The group stopped when there was something blocking their path.

"Ryder, go see if you can move it." Ty commanded.

"Yes sir."

"What is that?" Mei Lin whispered to no one in particular.

"No idea." Chie whispered back," The trees are making the forest too dark to see anything.

Ryder stopped when the thing moved. It was moving forward so Ryder stepped back a few steps from his tracks.

The thing came out of the shadows and was tall enough for a bit of the sunlight to reach it.

"Oh my god." Emi, who was standing in the front, whispered.

"HURRY! EVERYONE RUN BACK!" Ty roared. But it was too late. With one quick swoop, everyone from the front part of the group flung to the side.

Syaoran quickly pulled Sakura and Faust to the back with the horse. Fighters quickly unsheathed their weapon and magicians prepared to cast their spells.

_The forest is really big so I was hoping that we can avoid running into one. But it seems like we've stumbled right next to a Giant's Den._ Ty cursed as he glared at the Giant in front of them.


	5. The Forest of Giant Den

"Yamato! Take Lady Izumi, Prince Kiyoshi and Princess Kasumi away from here!" Ty yelled.

"The trees are too close to each other. We won't be able to bring the carriage if we go another path!" Yamato ran to the princess.

"Then we'll just have to leave the carriage here. Hurry and bring them away from here. We'll keep the two Giants here." Ty responded quickly.

Mei Lin and Yui help Yamato rush the Lady and her children out of the carriage.

They ran to the left, entering deeper into the forest and disappeared in sight.

Ty saw Syaoran protecting Sakura and frowned, "Syaoran and Eriol, quickly go after the princess and protect them." he commanded.

Syaoran was about to drag Sakura with him but she refused.

She got off the horse with Faust and pushed him to Syaoran, "Take him with you, I'll stay here with Tomoyo to tend to the wounded.

"Be careful!" He grabbed Faust's hand and dashed off with Eriol.

_Chain__! _Yuuko summoned chains and bound the Giant's leg to the ground.

He stumbled onto the floor, making the earth shake beneath them.

Few other chains came out and held onto the other leg, both wrists, around the neck and waist.

Yamonosuke hopped onto it and thrust his sword into his heart.

Another Giant slammed his fist on where Ty was standing.

Instead of dodging, Ty lift his sword up, horizontally with the blade facing up. He gritted his teeth from the impact, but did not fall on his knees. The Giant withdrew his hand and blood gushed out from the gash.

Ty jumped high enough to slash the Giant's shoulder and dismembered both of his arms. The Giant cried out loud and fell on his knees. His voice echoed through the forest.

"This is bad!" Chie said sternly, "The sound is going to lure all the Giants here."

"Watch out!" Sano yelled and cut an oncoming arrow.

Ty was too concentrated with the Giant and did not sense and arrow coming his direction. After finishing off the Giant, he jumped down and landed next to Sano.

Sano picked up the head of the arrow, "Someone was trying to kill us. But who would it be?"

Ty grabbed the arrow and looked at the carving on the head, "It's the queen's men."

He glanced at the trees around them, "Warn the others about it. Tell them to grab the injured and hide behind the trees. The queen's men are watching us now."

"What're you going to do about the men and the other Giants that are going to come? We don't have enough men to defend both groups." Sano asked in a whisper.

"We'll use this to our advantage." He responded, "Get our enemies to defeat our enemies."

Sano grinned, "Got it."

Ty ran to them and bent down. The rest also kneeled down in a circle and whispered each other the plan.

"Chie, can you cast invisibility and illusion?" Ty asked.

"I can only use invisibility and I can't cast two spells at once." She frowned.

Yuuko thought for a moment, "I can use illusion, but I just don't know the chant to it."

Ty closed his eyes to think, "Then we'll just have to …"

"I know it." Sakura interrupted, "I'll tell her the chant and she can cast it."

Ty looked at Sakura. He was doubtful because of her appearance but from his many years of experience, he know that looks can be deceiving.

"Ok then, you go with Yuuko. First Chie will cast invisibility on us so we can move as far away from this place as we can. Then Yuuko will cast illusion to lure the queen's men out and use her chain to drag them to the Giant's corpse. Is that clear?"

They nodded silently, "What're we going to do with the injured people though?" Yamonosuke asked.

"It is too dangerous for Ryder to move, some of his bones are crushed and it may get dislocated if we move him even a little bit. Kaede is also unconscious, so what do we do?" Tomoyo was worried.

Ty sighed, "Emi, Aki, can you both move?"

Emi gripped her shoulder, "I feel like my arm is broken but I can move."

"I can move." Aki said, "I don't think I'm seriously injured but my body hurts like hell."

"Sano will carry Kaede and Yamonosuke will go with Emi and Aki, while I carry Ryder." Ty said.

"But Ryder cannot move." Tomoyo argued.

"We have to move him, this place is too dangerous to stay any longer." It is apparent that Ty is in no mood for complaints.

"Yea, we need to hurry. I can see about three Giants coming from the front and four from the right." Yamonosuke said.

"Let's go!" Ty looked at everyone of them and they nodded back.

_Invisibility__!_ As silently as they could the group sneaked as far away as they could, while Sakura and her group went to a different area.

"What should I show them?" Yuuko asked as quietly as she could.

Sakura glanced at her, "Anything to get them to move. We just need to know their location."

Yuuko nodded and followed Sakura's chanting to cast illusion.

_Illusion__!_ The girls saw the trees rustle.

"There they are!" Sakura exclaimed.

_Chain__!_ Seven chains came out from the ground near the Giants and grabbed the men in the trees. It pulled them to the middle and they crashed to the ground. The Giants surrounded them.

"Son of a bitch!" They heard one of them yell.

The illusion wore off.

"Their magician is right there!" Someone yelled while pointing at them.

Sakura gasped and pushed Yuuko away. Their whip wrapped around Sakura's neck and violently yanked her into the middle.

"Sakura!" Yuuko yelled.

~~ Ty ~~

Ty stopped in his tracks.

"What is it?" Tomoyo asked.

"Damn." He cursed and told Yamonosuke to carry Ryder.

Everyone turned around. "Did something happen to them?" Tomoyo looked back but they were already too far away to see anything.

"You guys just keep going until you meet up with the rest of them." Ty jumped onto the trees, and within few hops, he disappeared in sight.

"That guy is amazing." Sano said.

Chie tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"He was able to hear them even though we are so far away already."

~ Back to Sakura's situation~

"What the..." Ty landed next to Yuuko and stopped.

"It looks like a wolf, but it also looks like a panther. The scarey thing is that it's the size of a bear..." Yuuko whispered to herself.

It leaped out of the trees and landed in front of the unconscious Sakura.

"What is that?!" The men yelled and quickly moved away from Sakura.

The beast's head lowered and charged toward the man with the whip. The horns pierce through the body and with a light flick of his head, the body flung to the side.

Being sidetracked by the mysterious beast, the men had forgotten about the Giants.

The Giants grabbed two of the men and squashed the two bodies with their bare hands.

One of the men charged and stabbed the Giants leg. He tried to pulled the sword out but failed to do so as the Giant lifted and shook his leg from the pain.

"Gahhh!" He tried to run away but the Giant kicked him, making him fly few miles away.

The black beast growled loudly when the Giant reached for him. He opened his mouth and a light beam appeared. Within a second, the light shot out like a laser, killing 3 Giants and destroying everything within its path. The Giants moved away from him.

"Amazing, the Giants sense the danger from him and is too afraid to approach him." Yuuko watched with awe.

The black beast trotted around Sakura, encircling her. Master, _I __have __passed __through __the __portal __without __your __permission __and __did __not __expect __myself __to __appear __in __my __true __form __for __a __while__, __but __I __guess __it is__unavoidable __since __you __were __in __danger__._ Kero kept his guard up even when the Giants were no match for him.

Ty's eyes narrowed, "The beast is protecting Sakura."

Yuuko nodded her head in agreement.

_Haste__!_ Two of the men dashed away leaving the last man alone, who only lasted for few minutes before he got trampled on when the Giants chased after the two runaways.

Kero glanced at Ty and Yuuko when all the Giants left.

Yuuko grabbed onto Ty when he stepped out, "What are you doing? It might attack us!"

"It won't." Ty said with confidence.

When Ty walked toward them, Kero ran off and chased after the Giants.

Ty touched Sakura's neck to feel her pulse.

"Is she hurt?" Yuuko asked.

"She just fainted." Ty said and carried Sakura in a bridal style.

~ Kero's P.O.V~

I laughed lightly when the Giants lost sight of the two. They are big but they are as slow as a snail.

I slowed down when I came near the village. I was in master's pocket so I saw how the village was like, but it's a mess now. Barrels, crops, wood, tools, and other stuff were all over the floor. Even few of the huts were collapsed.

Those men must have destroyed this area when they were chasing after my master.

There are two steps of footsteps heading there, it must be those two guys.

"Hurry up and bring me water!" One of the yelled as he sit on a stool.

I walked in there slowly and caught sight of the two. I was right. The halves are afraid of them.

They must have thought they were safe because the Giants weren't chasing them anymore. What they didn't know was that I am hunting them down or else they wouldn't be sitting here and resting.

They were still busy yelling the halves until they saw me. Their whole body tense up.

"Oh shit!" They started to run away.

I leap forward and caught the men closest to me. I stepped on him and bit on his neck. With light pressure, I snapped his neck in half.

The other one already ran pretty far away but it did not matter to me. Once again, I opened my mouth and shot another light beam. It hit the man and blowed his head off.

The halves were literally shaking in fear when they saw what I did. I ignored them and stuck my head into the barrel of water to wash off the blood on my head. They did not dare move an inch until I left.

~ Back to Sakura ~

Sakura groaned from he pain when she woke up and massaged her neck.

"You're awake!" Faust exclaimed and helped her sit up.

"What happened?" Sakura looked around to see everyone preparing for the night.

"Ty brought you back here after you fainted." Faust handed her a water bottle and she drank it slowly.

Sakura tried to look for Yuuko but did not see her, "What about Yuuko? Did something happen to her?"

He shook his head, "She went with Yamonosuke to hang bells in the surrounding area incase a monster come so we'll know and other people went to get firewood so we can make a fire."

She sighed in relief, "That's good to hear."

He leaned next to her and looked at the ground, "I was so scared when we were attacked. My legs couldn't even move and Syaoran end up carrying me while we ran. It was so embarrassing." He covered his face with his hand.

Sakura put her arms on his shoulder and pulled him close, "Are you afraid? If you are I can always bring you back home."

"No." He slammed his fist together, "This motivates me to get even stronger. I am only beginning to see a new world and I intend to continue to do so."

She smiled, "And how will you do that?"

"I will ask Syaoran to teach me! You should've seen him today! These people were chasing us and even though he was carrying me, he single handedly defeated the enemies." He said with admiration. "Eriol is really good too! He froze the Giants so Mei Lin could kill it."

"Hmm... You can ask Eriol to teach you some magic too." Sakura suggested.

"Rave never taught me magic before so I don't know if I'll be able to grasp the basics of it." He frowned.

"You should try both before you choose to be a warrior or magician. You may have a lot of mana stored up in your body. In that case, you can pursue the path of magician. But if you feel like your physical strength is stronger, then become a warrior."

"Can't I be both?!" Faust asked excitedly.

She shook her head, "That's not possible. If you have a lot of mana, you'll have more magic vessels in your body which limits the growth of your muscles. So if you are physically stronger, you won't have as much mana. But I guess there isn't really a way to measure it unless you test it yourself."

He pouted, "It'll be awesome if someone can be a magician and a warrior the same time."

"There is only one person in history who is a mage and a warrior..." Her voice trailed off.

"Who?! Who!?" He asked curiously.

Her eyes reflected the sorrow deep within her as she responded, "Reiton."


	6. Past

Mei Lin slumped her back and slid her foot across the dirt as she walked.

"I'm so tired!" She yelled.

Syaoran quickly put his hand over her mouth, "Quiet down or we'll lure some monsters here."

"It can't be helped." Sano said as he dodged a nearby branch that was poking out. "We've been walking in this forest for nearly few days and not to mention we are bringing along three injured people."

Yui looked at the map, "We should be out of here in another three or four days."

Mei Lin frowned, "I really hope so."

Kero climbed from Sakura's pocket to her shoulder and covered himself with her hair so others wouldn't see him.

"Ty is suspicious of your identity because of my appearance. Sorry master." He apologized.

She answered in a soft voice, "Why would I blame you? You saved my life. And if things become serious, he might just ask us to leave. Plus I highly doubt he'll figure out who I really am."

"I just hope you regain ½ or at least ¼ of your power, or else you will faint again when I go beast mode."

Sakura pouted, "I have been training myself in the past few nights. I already feel much stronger than when I first woke up. The reason why my power is limited is because my magic vessels have been clogged up since I haven't been using my magic for a while."

He mumbled, "A while? That sounds like an understatement."

Sakura ignored his comment and continued, "I cannot force the vessels in one go because I might end up bursting the vessel and cause internal injuries. As long as I keep the magic circulating, it will slowly open up again. So the best choice is to train myself little by little."

"It is good that you know what is wrong. But you don't have anytime to train at all. If you don't have enough sleep at all, you won't have enough energy to travel in the daytime."

"Hmm well, that you don't have to worry. I'll manage somehow." Sakura watched as fause run to the front and caught Princess Kasumi before she fell to the ground.

"Thank you." She said shyly and her face turned red.

"Here." Lady Izumi lifted her hand up, "Hold on to mama so you won't fall."

"No!" She clung onto Faust's arm, "I will hold onto Faust!"

"Wha?" He was surprised.

Ty bent down when he spoke to her, "Princess Kasumi, your safety is important to us. Please go with Lady Izumi."

She shook her hand clung onto his arm tighter.

Lady Izumi frowned, "Kasumi, mother is lonely without you. Won't you come with me?"

She glanced at her mother, "Mama has Kiyoshi, and I am a big girl now."

Prince Kiyoshi instantly let go of Izumi's hand, "I can walk by myself too!"

Izumi did a small smile. Her kids, whom she have been taken care of since they were born are finally doing things by themselves. It makes her happy but at the same time she feels lonely.

"Okay Kasumi, will you at least walk next to me so I know you won't get hurt?"

She didn't say anything but kept her head down.

"Kasumi." She looked up when Faust called her name.

"Do you want to play with me later?"

"Yes!"

"If I take care of you now, I will be too exhausted to play. If you let Lady Izumi protect you then we can play as long as we want."

She ran to her mom, "I will go with mommy then!"

Sakura ruffled his hair, "Good job."

"I can't protect anyone with the skills I have now. So I know she will be better off with others."

"Pft." Kero stuck his head out just enough so only faust can see him. "Who was the one that said he is strong enough to protect Master."

Faust pouted, "I will! Watch me!"

Sakura giggled, "When are you going to ask him to train you?"

"Well..." He fidgeted, "I don't know him that well so I don't know if he'll do it."

"I'm sure he will. He is a really nice guy."

"I hope so! He was like hiya!" Faust slashed the air.

She smiled, "Then I will look forward seeing you train with Syaoran."

"Someone call me? I heard my name." He popped up.

"Great timing!" She exclaimed, "We were just talking about you."

"Oh? You're not talking bad behind my back right?" He chuckled and noticed something on the floor.

"That depends if you have anything bad to talk about." She responded.

"None at all! I am a great man!" He said humorously and continued to search for something.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

His eyebrows scrunched up into a frown and touched the soil, "There are many footprints here. That means a group of people passed by here earlier than us. I should tell Ty about this before anything happens."

He walked over to Ty but stopped in his tracks when he sensed something.

_Dancing of the Leaves._

All the scattered leaves floated off the ground.

Sakura gasped and quickly reached for Faust.

"Watch out!" Syaoran pushed Sakura and both of them fell on the floor.

The leaves flew in a circle, creating a small tornado in the middle of the group. It dusted up debris from the floor and made deep cuts on the trucks. It was almost as if it was done by a sword.

"Faust!" Sakura yelled. She wanted to find Faust but Syaoran held her back.

"Wait! I need to save Faust!" She yelled over the strong wind.

"You can't even see what's going on on the other side. Plus if you go through that wind, you will be ripped into shreds! I promise we'll come back to find him later!" Syaoran grabbed her hand and started to run away when a third tornado appeared,

Sakura fell on the floor and gasped for air when they finally stopped. They can no longer see nor hear the violent wind.

She instantly stood up, "We need to go back and find the other!"

He knew she is worried about Faust but he didn't like seeing her rush into danger.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to him."

"How would you know?"

"It seems like the person who cast the tornado is trying to drive us away and not kill us. If they really were trying to kill us they would be chasing after us." He explained, trying to lessen her anxiety.

She glanced back. It is true. No one is coming after them. Even though what he said may be true, she is still worry about Faust. She may not be his real mother but she was the one who brought him out, so she feels responsible. And during the times they've traveled together, she already felt like he was her family member.

"You stay here and I'll go back to see if anyone is still there." Syaoran said, "I'll be back quick."

"Be careful yourself!" She watched him leap from trees to trees and disappeared. She massaged her shoulder and sat on the floor to wait for him. She gasped when she noticed that Kero is gone. _He must have fell when Syaoran pushed me on the floor. If Kero is there then I hope he can protect Faust._

**~ Faust~**

Faust fell on the floor and quickly crawled behind a tree and hid there when the tornado appeared between him and Sakura. _Good thing I dodged it quickly before it hit me._

"Faust! Faust! Where are you?!" Someone yelled.

His eyes widened when he saw the princess run over to him. She tripped on a rock and fell on her face. The wind caught her leg and she flew up.

"Princess!" Faust grabbed her hand and tried to pull her down.

She cried when the wind tore through her shoes and cut her flesh. "It hurts!" She screamed.

"Hold on!" He yanked as hard as he could but failed. The wind expanded and wrapped around his body, lifting him off the ground.

"Crap!" He cursed. He hugged the princess tightly and covered her with his body when the flew to the middle. He could feel the wind on his skin. It felt swimming in a sea of needles.

"FOOL!" Kero growled and looked around to see if anyone was there. He transformed and leaped into the middle, pushing them out of the turbulent wind.

He landed next to their unconscious body. He bit on the princess' shirt and flung her on his back. After doing the same to Faust, he escaped to a safe place.

By the time Syaoran got there, the tornado had already stopped.

There were no bodies, so at least that is a good sign. No one had died that means faust had somehow escaped.

He was about to walk back, but he sensed an attack. An arrow shot toward his direction and he dodged it. His eyes widened with surprise when the arrow swerved and turned around. He sliced the arrow in half and both parts fell beside him.

He stood in the same spot and observed carefully for five minutes before he gave up and returned to Sakura.

A man on the tree sighed, "That was close. First he sensed my wind, and then your arrow."

"Should I kill him?"

"Our top priority is to prevent the ritual from being disturbed. It's unnecessary to chase someone who's running away."

**~ Syaoran~**

He dashed to Sakura when he saw her wobbling sideways.

"Are you feeling sick?" He asked worriedly.

"No. I am fine. I just need to rest a bit."_ I probably feel like this because Kero transformed. Few nights of training paid off since I didn't faint like last time._

"There was no one when I got back. Since the tornado started in the middle, everyone started running the opposite direction. I am thinking that the whole group might have end up separating into three or four groups. We can look for Faust and lady Izumi the same time. Don't worry we'll find him." He said reassuringly.

"We need to be careful though. There was someone else other than the one who attacked us."

They traveled for few hours and saw no sign of the attacker nor anyone from the group.

"Others might be headed to the city. Do you want to go there and wait? If Faust is not there, I will come back and look for him for you." He suggested.

She nodded, "That's a good idea." _If Kero is with Faust then I don't need to worry too much.__And __since __I __don__'__t __have __much __power__, __I __will __only __be __a __burden __to __Syaoran __if __someone __attacks __us__._

Passing through the forest, they stumbled upon a tomb. A miraculous light shone from the big gravestone. Beautiful flowers were grown beside it and surprisingly, the stone was kept in a good shape. The stone did not eroded from the constant weathering. It was very clean, as if someone had been cleaning it everyday.

They walked closer to admire it.

"How is it that the stone is in such a good condition?" She questioned.

"This tomb marked the beginning of the most powerful magician of the history. Maho no Megami, also known as the Goddess of Magician. Thousands and millions of people come here and pray to her. And because of that a huge amount of spiritual energy have been absorbed. It is also the reason why the demons does not dare come close to it." He responded.

She traced the carved words on the stone with her finger. _They pray to me__... I wonder should I be touched or amused.__  
_

"Don't you find it ironic?" She asked.

"What is?" He watched as she stared at the tomb with a face full of sorrow and grief.

"A tombstone is used to commemorate the dead, yet people celebrate this as if it's something good."

He was flabbergasted, "Surely the Goddess of Magician must've lost a lot to get to where she was. But because of the death of her love ones, humanity was saved. If you look at the overall picture, death of a few in exchange for the life of millions is a worthy sacrifice."

"Even though..." Sakura's words trailed off. _Even though you say that, they are still my family._

**~ Flashback ~ Before Chaos. Year x0362**

Sakura jumped up and sprinted down the mountain when she heard the chime.

"THEY'RE BACK! THEY'RE BACK!" People yelled happily.

The villagers gathered in the middle to welcome the returning group.

"They've been gone for almost two weeks. You think they got it?"

"Of course!"

"They're here!"

The group rode to the center of the village and got off their horse.

Sakura ran to the middle and hugged the leader, "Welcome back brother!"

Touya grinned at his little sister, "You didn't get into trouble while I was away right?"

"Of course not! You can ask Ojiisan(old man)!"

He flicked her forehead, "Don't speak to your elder like that. You call him chief."

The chief laughed, "It is alright. She is still a little girl."

"Chief!" Touya exclaimed, "You spoil her too much. If she's always this rude, no one would want to marry her."

Sakura pouted, "I don't want to marry. Plus it is me who you are talking about. I would be the one choosing them. Not them choosing me. Hmph!"

He chuckled and hugged her, "Chief, we got the stuff."

Few people brought up three big boxes and the chief opened it.

There are 500 silver taels in each box, making it a total of 1,500 silver taels.

"Wow, that's a lot." Someone in the crowd murmured.

The chief was satisfied, "With this, we'll have something to give to the poor. But we would need to get more soon."

Touya frowned, "On the way back, I heard some people say that the Kingdom of Bastilla and Forton has fallen. The lords were executed already. The sicarius now have ¼ of the Southern Kingdoms under their control."

The chief sighed, "I am just worried about the refugees that are running North. Sooner or later they're going to stop accepting people."

"We'll just have to wait and see." Touya took a glimpse at his house and the chief saw it.

"I'm sure you're tired now. We will talk later." He said.

"Thank you." Touya smiled and walked to his house with Sakura. Other returning members also returned to their own house.

"Welcome home." A woman greeted as she came out of the kitchen.

"Kaho." Touya whispered. He planted a kiss on her forehead and gazed into her eyes.

Someone near the door coughed and they pulled away.

"Seiji!" Sakura beamed when she saw her childhood friend.

"Welcome back Touya. How did everything go?" He asked.

Touya faced his friend, "It was very close this time. The mayor sent more people to protect the silver, so it was unexpected. But nothing is too hard for my team. He grinned and continued, "Like always, we successfully robbed them."

"The villagers are hosting a welcome back party for you and your team tonight. We should get ready." Seiji said.

"WOO!" Sakura jumped and clapped her hands, "Party tonight!"

"You don't need to cook tonight then." Touya squeezed his wife's shoulder and she smiled at him.

Suddenly they heard yelling outside. The chime rang again, but this time with a different beat.

They froze for a second when they recognize the alert notice.

"It's a half! It's a half! Quickly get your weapons!" Someone cried.

"Stay here." Touya said to Kaho and Sakura. All the men came out to see what happened.

A beast came into the village. It was a half wolf demon, but none of his body looks like a human. The only thing he had similar to them was the way he walked. He stood on two feet and wore an armor like a warrior.

Touya narrowed his eyes. _If he is a half there should be some part of him that looks like a human. But how come I can't see any similarities?_

"First formation!" Touya roared. The men from his team rushed to the front line and positioned themselves with the same stance. Their sword pointed toward the enemy with their knee slightly bent forward.

A villager gasped, "There's a human with him. It must be a hostage!"

The two strangers stopped when they saw the dangerous crowd.

Touya did not understand. Why would a half need to take a hostage? Shouldn't they just start attacking?

"We need to make sure that man doesn't get in the fight or else we might end up killing him. It doesn't seem like the half is attacking yet, so that man's safety should be our first priority." Daisuke, a neighbor suggested.

"Half!" Touya yelled, "Is there anything you want? If we are able to, we will get what you need in exchange for that man's safety."

The wolf half tilted his head and narrowed his eyes, "Are you guys stupid? I'm a full fledge demon. Not some low life half."

Sakura jumped up and down, trying to peek over her brother's shoulder.

"What are you doing here?!" Touya whispered and pushed her head down so she would stop.

The men tightened their grip on the sword. If he is a full fledge demon then that means he is much stronger.

"Don't worry human. We will save you." Daisuke said and took his position next to the others.

The man lift up his arms like he was surrendering, "I think you guys have mistaken something. I am not his hostage."

Touya lessened the distance between them with his men behind him. "Is he your slave then?"

"He is my companion."

"What?" Touya was speechless.

"He doesn't hurt people unless they attack first. You can put down your weapons." The man lowered his hand.

Touya put one of his hand up and his men lowered their guard.

"I've never seen a human have a demon as a friend before." Touya said and apologized, "Sorry to frighten you. But you must understand, demons are not to be taken lightly.

"I understa..."

The man was interrupted by a loud grumble.

"That is rude." He said to the wolf.

"We haven't eaten anything for two days already. It's not my fault." He defended.

Touya laughed, "No problem. If you would like to, you can stay for few days. My house have few rooms. We also have a feast tonight. It will be fun with more people."

"Touya...the demon." Seiji whispered.

"Ahh...don't worry about me." The demon heard it loud and clear. A high level demon like me won't let blood lust over rule my consciousness. Therefore I won't kill you unless I feel like it."

"You must be very strong to have befriended a demon. I respect and welcome any warriors in my house. My name is Touya."

"My name is Sora and my friend here is Tadao."

They heard some shuffling noise and the chief came beside Touya.

"I let them stay for a bit. I hope you don't mind!" Touya laughed lightly when the chief tried to smack him with a cane but missed when Touya ducked.

Chief sighed, "Do not make any decisions if I'm not around. But there is nothing I can do now since you already agreed."

"Thank you for accepting us." Sora greeted.

"Just don't cause any trouble or we'll kick you out." Chief warned as he strolled away.

Sakura ran in front of Tadao. She was more fascinated than frightened. It was her first time seeing a demon. She had to bent her neck to see his face clearly because he is two heads taller than her.

"You look very scary." She said to him with engrossing eyes.

He raised a brow, "That does not look like an expression of someone who is afraid. And you shouldn't be too curious of dangerous things or you'll end up getting killed."

Touya's hand twitched when he saw Tadao pat Sakura's head with his large paw.

Sora noticed the tension and suggested something, "Why don't we head to your house first. I don't think the villagers are as open as you."

"Let's go! Let's go!' Sakura cheered.

**~ Night time~ **

"We will sit here." Sakura lead Seiji, Sora, and Tadao to a table.

The villagers piled into the area and sat anyplace they want.

"Should we save a spot for Touya and Kaho before someone takes the seat?" Sora asked.

"Okie." Sakura replied.

A little girl ran to their table and climbed up the chairs to sit herself. Her mom quickly pulled her off and dragged her to another table.

"I want to sit with Sakura!" She whined.

"You can't sit there. Play with her later." Her mom said and lift her up to her seat.

"Here you guys are." Touya said and sat down. "How do you guys like it here?"

"It's very nice and peaceful." Sora responded. "This place has a very nice scene and feels relaxing unlike the busy cities."

"No one lives around this area. We have been walking for two days and this is the first village I have seen so far." Tadao said.

"Yea, we're the only ones living within a hundred miles." Touya responded "If we wanted to we would be separated from the outside world. What brings you two to this segregated place?"

They looked at each other before Sora responded, "We were chasing after a Sicarius but lost sight of him. That's how we ended up here."

"No one came to the village the past few days. They probably took another route." Seiji guessed.

Sora sighed, "That's possible."

"If a member a Sicarius really entered the forest then I must notice the chief to send more people out for protection." Touya said worriedly.

"Sicarius are dangerous but at least they haven't found their leader yet." Sora spoke as he drank some wine.

Touya nodded in agreement, "The world will become more chaotic when they find their leader. As the prophecy says 'One will rise to rule humanity and five will come to end his sovereignty.' This saying has been going on for twenty years. I don't know if it is true or not but even without a leader, Sicarius still manage to take control the Southern parts. I really can't imagine what will happen if the prophecy comes true."

"It'll be the end for mankind." Sora said depressingly and took another sip.

Touya chuckled, "Don't be so disheartened. There are also the five heroes that will save us."

"Let's just hope that part is true." Sora mumbled softly.

"Ahh..." Touya turned to Sakura and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a pendant and gave it to Sakura. It was a star with an arrow going through it diagonally..

"It's so pretty!" Sakura's eyes sparkled.

"Happy 17th birthday. I told someone to make this for you. But I wasn't able to celebrate it with you last week so I couldn't give it to you."

"I have no where to put it though!" She said.

"Of course you do. You can hang it on your staff." Touya suggested.

"You know I want to learn sword fighting more!"

Touya chuckled, " Takahiro sensei said you are better with magic. So I rather you learn magic. Also you can attack people in a farther range and won't get hurt as easily."

"Fine." She pouted and he laughed.

"Touya!" An old woman came to our table. "You and Kaho should be sitting in the front! Come. Come." She dragged them to the front center table, where all the elders and important people in the village sat.

Goro, one of the people in Touya's team sat on the last opening seat in the table. Everyone in the table are men except Sakura.

"As expected, none of the woman want to sit in this table." He snickered.

Tadao shrugged, "I do not need to be accepted by women or little kids."

"It is not you who I am talking about. Unlike a half, you are a full fledge demon. And not to mention, Wolf demons are famous for their destructive power. Even though we fear your race, we still respect you."

Tadao puffed his chest up and smirked, "So this is what humans think of my clan. Am i proud to be born a Wolf or what?"

Sora rolled his eyes.

"If it is not me you are referring to then who is?" Tadao asked.

Goro snorted, "The one who doesn't deserve to sit with us."

Daisuke kneed him to stop him from talking, "Don't talk too much."

Goro ignored him, "Am I wrong? You guys agree with me too." He said to the others. "He is a bastard child and not to mention his mom is a whore."

Sakura stood up angrily and raised her voice, "Seiji did nothing wrong to anyone. Why are you being so mean to him?!"

"Just like the fortune teller had foretold, he is bad luck and that is a problem to our village. You of all people should be more angry than I am. After your parents took him in, they immediately died. If it wasn't his fault then whose?"

"My parents died from an epidemic. It had nothing to do with Seiji. Do not tie two unrelated things together." She argued.

"He is a disgrace to the village. He is as low as a half. Better yet, even lower." Goro talked back.

Sakura was about to say something else but Seiji grabbed her arm.

"It's okay." He smiled, "I am use to it.

She is angry at Goro, but she is more irritated with Seiji.

"Why are you smiling like that when he is saying that about you? No one can ever get use to being hurt!" She yelled.

The day he started living in the village, he was already made fun of and is treated as an outcast. If it weren't for Sakura, he may have already been sold as a slave.

"You should just leave. Seeing your face makes me want to puke." Goro looked at him disgustingly.

Sakura put her hands on her waist, "Your ugly face is what makes me want to puke."

Daisuke sighed, "Enough both of you. Goro, this is a celebration for our return so stop creating problems. And Sakura, you are a girl so watch your language and behavior."

She frowned and sat back down.

"I am not feeling well. I will head back to the house first." Seiji excused himself.

"Good choice. Don't ruin the mood by staying here." Goro sneered.

"Interesting." Tadao commented on the scene in front of him and Sora continued drinking.

Seiji walked in the streets himself and saw a couple opposite from him. They moved away from him and gave him a disapproving look.

"Don't get close to him or else you will die."

"Is that the whore's kid?"

"Yea. He came from the direction of the party. I'm glad he's leaving. Wouldn't want him to ruin the mood."

Seiji looked at the dark sky. _I never did anything bad. Why am I treated this way? It is not my fault to have been born from a dirty woman. I did not choose this path then why am I the one to blame? _

"Master Seiji!" A girl smiled and linked arms with him.

"Ramu." He smiled. Ramu is a ram half, and is also the only half slave in the village.

He looked at the red mark on her cheek and the food on her clothes. "Did you get whip by them again? "He caressed the injured cheek.

She winced from the pain but smiled, "It is fine. Master Kazuo only hit me once today before Master Touya stopped him."

He touched her horn, "It is a pity that Kazuo cut off your horns and sold it." _They who injure others so easily. Shouldn't they be the one that misfortune follows? Why is it always the weaker ones that suffer the most?_

"He was only afraid that I will start attacking. It does not matter as long as I can stay in this village. Compared to the slaves outside, I am considered very lucky." She hugged him.

He hugged her back, "If you can't take it anymore, I can try to break the choker on your neck."

She shook her head, "This is a tracker and a electrocutor. They electrocute me if I fight back, but they normally only whip me so it is nothing too serious."

He sighed, "You are Kazuo's property but I may be able to talk to Touya about it so they wouldn't hit you as much."

"Thank you." She snuggled closer to him.

Someone put their hands on his shoulder, "I'm not interrupting something am I?"

"Miss Sakura!" Ramu greeted.

Sakura patted her head.

"Waa! They hit you again." She exclaimed when she saw the whip mark.

Sakura crossed her arms, "If I have enough money I would buy you from Kazuo. Too bad we can't have any of the money brother steals."

"Miss Sakura you are very nice. I am just happy knowing that you and Master Seiji is there for me." Ramu smiled.

Sakura put her arms on both of their shoulder, " I'm getting sick of those people in the party. Let's celebrate ourselves at home."

**~ Tomorrow Morning in the Forest~ **

Seiji slashed the tree trunk continuously and breathed heavily. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and closed his eyes.

"_He is a bastard child." "He is bad luck." "He is a disgrace to the village" "Seeing your face makes me want to puke." _

His eyes snapped open.

"Hup!" He sliced the thick trunk as strong as he could and at least five trees fell down.

Sakura clapped her hands, "That was so cool Seiji! You should teach me!"

"You brought your staff though. Don't you want to train your magic instead?"

She lift up the other hand that was holding a short sword, "I've always wanted to be a warrior. That's why I trained with brother when we were young. But Takahiro sensei tells me that I am more suited to be a magician. Now I only remember the basics of using a sword. I don't want to forget that even if it's just a little bit."

He ruffled her hair, "Sensei is right. You are weak. "

He squeezed her arm, "No muscles at all."

_Water__Blast__!_ A small water ball flew toward his face and exploded.

He laughed and wiped the water, "That feels refreshing. Anyways, you even attack me with magic. You should just train with me as a magician."

She released another water blast but this time he dodged it.

"If I win you have to train me!" She declared.

He lift his sword up, "Why not?"

She lifted the leaves off the floor and sent it to him like daggers.

He cut through the countless numbers of leaves in half. His arm movement was so fast that Sakura could not even see what he did.

He struck horizontally and when the sword got near her neck, the soil shot up and formed into a hardened wall to block his attack.

Another wall appeared beside him. He was taken by surprise when both walls slammed together. He jumped back before it could crush him.

"Hmm... Seems like I can't attack you close up."

A gust of wind encircled his weapon and suddenly his whole sword was on fire.

Her eyes widened, "You can cast fire on your blade?! I've only seen people use other elements."

"Give up?" He grinned.

"Of course not!" Sakura pointed the staff toward him and a small fire lit up like a torch.

He raised a brow, "A puny fire like that won't affect my attack."

"We'll see about that!" The fire spun in a circular motion and created a ball

"I learned to use fire last week and haven't been able to use it in a battle. You mind being my test subject?" The fire grew immensely.

"Hahh... I should've attacked you before you could charge that thing." He watched as her fire grow bigger and taller than them.

"I can even make it bigger!" She said happily.

"Well I won't let that happen!" He cut right in the middle but it didn't go through. His fire pushed against hers and she clenched her teeth together.

_His fire is smaller than mine. How come his attack is so strong?!_ His attacked seeped into the fire. It split the fire ball in half and flew toward her direction.

_I can't move fast enough!_ Sakura gasped._ I need a shield! Shield SHIELD!_ A glass like orb surrounded her and she fell on the ground. The orb blocked his attack.

"Wow." Seiji exclaimed, "When did you learn to use a shield like that?"

"I...I don't know." It was obvious that she was also shocked about it.

He bent down next to her when the shield disappeared.

"Your powers are growing non-stop." He said as he helped her up. "I can't imagine how strong you will be when you are fully developed.

She sighed, "I didn't know you are that strong. I think you will be able to defeat Touya."

He shrugged, "The villagers does not want to see me so I just hang out and train here."

"Ohh...I see." She mumbled.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

Sora and Tadao appeared.

"What happened here?" Tadao asked. The surrounding trees were burnt from their attack.

"We were challenging each other, but it seems I have lost!" Sakura pouted, "What brings you guys here? It's pretty far away from the village."

"Oh did you guys see someone come by here? Sora asked.

She shook her head.

"No. We were too into our battle." Seiji laughed.

"I see." Sora whispered disappointingly.

"I guess I won't be learning how to sword fight today since I lost to you. I am going to go back home and help with the house chores. Are you guys returning too?" She asked.

"We're heading back too." Tadao said.

I will stay here and train a little bit more." Seiji smiled as they walked off.

When they disappeared from sight, his smile instantly faded away. "I don't know who you are but come out before I kill you."

Two figures jumped down from the trees and got on their knees to bow to him, "We have been looking for you master."

**~Five Days Later~**

Sakura brought Sora and Tadao to the top of the mountain for sightseeing. Sora laid down on the grass while Tadao stood near the cliff.

Tadao put his hands above his eyes to block the sunlight, "Wow this forest is really hugs. All I see is the color green."

"Yup. I have never left this place before. Before I marry, I want to go out there and explore first." She grinned.

"There's nothing great out there. All people care about is wealth, fame, and power. Living here doesn't seem like a bad idea. But once Sicarius takes control of the whole world, this place might be annihilated." Sora mumbled.

She looked at Sora with wondering eyes, "You told brother you were chasing after a Sicarius member here. What made you start chasing them the first place?"

Tadao leaned his arm on her head, "Little kids shouldn't be too noisy."

"It's okay." Sora sat up.

He looked at the sea of trees and spoke without looking at them.

"Do you remember the Kingdom of Vixin?"

"Of course!" Sakura responded, "That was the first Kingdom that Sicarius took over. If I remember it happened four years ago. After the Sicarius took control of the capital, they locked all the citizens inside and released hundreds of demons. Their body was torn to shreds and ripped apart. No one managed to get out alive. At least that was what I heard from brother."

"I lived in the capital of Vixin."

Sakura's mouth was wide opened in shock, "You escaped that attack?"

"I wasn't there when they attacked."

"Hmm." She smiled, "Then you must be very lucky!"

His face did not show any sign of relief. He was full of sorrow. "I wish I stayed and died there."

"Why would you say that?!" She cried.

He sighed, "I was a knight working for the king. My wife died early but she left me a beautiful present."

"Present?"

"My daughter Lena." Sora smiled as he recalled the memories. She could tell that his daughter was the whole world to him.

He continued, "The king sent me on a mission so I left for a month while Lena stayed at home. The attacked occurred while I was away. When I went back, it was no longer the lively city I remembered. It became a haunted city. If I could I would have stayed with my daughter until her last moments. She must have been very scared..."

He looked at Sakura, "If she did not die, she would be the same age as you."

"Old man, you must keep living! If you guys switch places, you would want your daughter to live happily too! So you can't give up on living!" She yelled loudly.

He laughed lightly, "You found out that I have a daughter that is same age as me so you're calling me old man?"

"How about you Tadao? Why are you after Sicarius?" She questioned.

He shrugged, "Bored."

"Bored." She asked in disbelief.

"I don't have a particular grudge against them. I am just following Sora since I have nothing to do."

She laughed, "You are very interesting! A wolf demon is bored. How did you guys meet then?"

"We met in the capital of Vixin after the Sicarius attack. You should've seen Sora. He started attacking me crazily when he thought I was the one who did it. Good thing the Sicarius left their flag their to mark it their territory or else I would not be able to get him off my tail."

"I would think it is you too if I saw you there!"

Tadao rolled his eyes, "I know."

"Sakura! Have you seen Ramu around?" A little boy ran to them. He is Kazuo's son.

"Kiju! I haven't seen her around. What happened?" Sakura asked.

Kiju frowned, "She hasn't been back for five days already. There are tons have stuff for her to do at home."

"I'll go look for her with you." Sakura went off with him.

Kiju gave up after few more minutes of searching but Sakura continued for another hours and found Ramu laying on the floor of the forest. Her whole body was covered in dirt with a big hole in her chest.

"Ramu!" Sakura cried and lifted her into her arms. "Who did this to you?!"

Ramu reached her hand up and touch Sakura's cheek, "Miss Sakura."

"Tell me! Tell me what happened!" Sakura yelled. "A wound like this wouldn't kill you immediately if you get treated immediately. Why did you not come back to the village!?

She leaned into Sakura's arm. "This is a nice way to leave."

"Why don't you tell me who did this to you?!"

Ramu shook her head, "Miss Sakura I am happy to have met you and Master Seiji. Please be happy."

With those last words, Ramu closed her eyes and her body fell limp.

"Ramu! RAMU!" Sakura cried and hugged her body. She brought Ramu's body back to Kazuo.

"What is this?" Kazuo narrowed his eyes, "She died."

He checked her neck, "The choker is gone. The person who killed her must've broke the tracker so we couldn't find her. Well whatever. Dump her in the forest."

"What are you talking about?! Aren't you going to make a grave for her?!" Sakura shouted furiously.

"Don't be stupid." He turned his back on her, "Why would I bother digging a grave for a slave? I'm just worried about the family chores I have to do now."

Sakura was shaking from anger. She died and no one cared. People saw Sakura carry Ramu's body back into the forest and said nothing. They just returned to their daily lifestyle as if nothing have changed.

She laid Ramu's body onto the floor and Seiji came running to them.

Seiji was pained when he saw her body. He kneeled down beside her and kissed her forehead.

"This is so horrible." Sakura weeped.

He looked at Ramu. "This may not be so horrible to her."

"What are you talking about!"

"Look at her." He ran his fingers through Ramu's hair, "She look so peaceful."

Sakura stopped crying. What Seiji was true. She have never seen her look that peaceful before.

They dug a grave for her and went back home.

Touya hugged Sakura when he saw her red puffy eyes, "I heard about what happened from the villagers."

Kaho frowned and patted Sakura's head, "Ramu is a nice girl. She wouldn't be happy knowing that you're like this."

"I can't stand it." Sakura whispered. "Why do the villagers not care when she died? Why didn't she tell me who killed her? Why?!"

Touya sighed, "There are things that are out of our control. Our society is made to look down on the halves and treat them as slaves. And slaves are just like animals. No one is sad when animals die."

Sakura wiped her tears, "I don't feel good. I'm going to my room."

Seiji heard some noise in the middle of the night and went outside. He entered the dark forest and few people appeared before him.

"What is it you need?" He asked.

"It's already been five days. We can't waste anymore time here. We will proceed to plan B tomorrow."

"Do as you want." He started to walk back to his room, "I will wait for you guys here tomorrow."

"Yes master."

**~ Tomorrow ~ **

Sora and Tadao sat on the side while watching Sakura train herself for few hours.

"Is this even an effective way to release your anger?" Tadao asked.

"Just let her be." Sora leaned on a tree trunk and closed his eyes.

Tadao stood up abruptly and started sniffing.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked when he saw his expression.

"Something doesn't feel right." He snapped his head toward the village.

His eyes widened, "The village is on fire!"

Sakura stopped and looked, "What?! How come no one rang the chime?!" She quickly dashed back quickly with the two of them behind.

"Wha...What is this..?!" Her body started shaking. The whole village was engulfed in flames.

"Brother! Kaho!" Sakura yelled and started to run in but Sora grabbed her.

"It's already too late! There's no way they will survive in they are still in there. But your brother is very strong right? He must have found a way to escape." Sora said quickly.

Just then, a group of people riding on horses came and stopped in front of them. There was at least 100 of them all covered in a navy colored cloak. There was a symbol on the back of their cloak. Two swords formed an X with a skeleton head overlapping it.

Sora's eyes widened. "Sicarius..." He whispered.

Some Sicarius members brought forth the villagers that managed to escape the fire.

The person in the front took of his hood.

"Seiji..? What is the meaning of this?" Sakura did not believe what was happening.

"Seiji killed your brother and sister-in-law! You bastard!" Kazuo yelled as he struggled to get away from them.

Seiji raised his hand and Kazuo was decapitated.

"STOP THIS!" Sakura screamed.

"I see. So you were in the forest while this happened." Seiji said as he looked at them. He did not react at all when the villagers beg for mercy. They were beheaded one by one since Seiji did not order them to stop.

"Waaaah Waahhh." The kids cried.

Seiji's fingers twitched and then he frowned," So annoying. Hurry up and kill them."

"Yes sir!" They forced the kids to kneel down in one row. A well built man went next to them. Sakura could not see his face but she could tell that he was strong, because he was wielding a huge knife with one hand. A quick swift of his hand and everything fell silent.

_Thud__._ Their bodies fell next to their head.

Sakura was petrified to the point she could not say anything. Her body shook violently.

"This isn't you. THIS ISN'T YOU SEIJI!"

"What do you get from doing this?" Sora growled.

"What do I get?" Seiji looked at Sora, "Peace in mind. I never knew that killing them will give me such satisfaction. Blame them for treating me such a way."

Goro went on his knees, "I'm sorry about what I said Please don't kill me!"

"It is pitiful...pitiful that you are bowing to someone who is even lower than a half." Seiji showed no remorse. He was not the Seiji that Sakura once knew.

He pointed a finger toward Goro and then a light beam shot out, "We humans are such pitiful creatures..." The light shone on his body and within seconds, he turned into dusts.

"You said it was their fault for treating you badly. Then how about Touya and Kaho!? Touya treated you like a family member!" Sakura shouted bitterly.

"I personally have no grudge against Touya. If you want to, blame him for being the strongest in the village. For these past days I have been searching for the person that will go against me in the future and I could think of no other person but him."

Her vision started to blur because of the tears. She don't know if she is crying because of rage or sadness.

She gasped when she thought of something, "Ramu...did you kill Ramu too?"

She hoped for a different answer, but things doesn't always go as planned.

"I did." His facial expression did not change.

"How can you do that to her?! She loved you! SHE LOVED YOU! DIDN'T YOU KNOW THAT?" Sakura screamed. Sora continued to hold her back while Tadao stood at the side guarding them.

"She overheard my conversation. If I let her live then she would have ruined my plan."

Sakura fell on her knees and buried her face in her hands.

"Sakura. You have always been like a little sister to me so I won't kill you. You can come with me and I will not let anyone hurt you."

"You are insane." She whispered.

"Master! You can't let anyone in this village alive! I will kill her for y-."

He fell off the horse and landed next to Seiji when he got struck. Seiji plunged his sword into his throat and wiped the blood with his sleeve.

"Saburou." He called out and a man trotted next him. "There are some men that went to Bastilla and Forton to pass money out. Make sure hunt everyone of them down."

"Yes sir."

Seiji went past them with his men behind him.

_We're totally outnumbered. Even if we wanted to we won't make it out of here alive if they attack us. _Sora made sure to never let his guard down.

Tadao grimaced. _The enemy is right in front of us and we can't even attack. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth. _

Seiji suddenly halted, "Oh yes. One last thing. Seiji is a weak man whose overall existence is a disgrace. He have died in the sea of fire. From now on my name is Reiton."

He smiled. An insincere smile. "Carve it into your memory. But don't worry if you don't, because I will make sure this won't be the last time you hear my name." With that he began walking away again.

Sakura looked at his back with eyes full of hate, "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL DEFINITELY KILL YOU!"

~Present~ After Chaos. Year x5034

Syaoran waved his hands in front of her face, "Hello?"

She blinked few times, "Wha.. What is it?"

"You fell silent on me so I was just wondering if you are feeling fine." He said worriedly.

She smiled, "I was just thinking about something. I'm completely fine."

"That's go-." Syaoran jumped away from his spot and an arrow landed at where his foot was.

"It was my mistake to let you go. I should have killed you." A man holding a staff walked out from the shadow. A woman holding a bow was following him.

Syaoran stepped in front of Sakura, "It's you guys again."


End file.
